‘Zhongli No. 3’, a new high-quality plum cultivar

Abstract:‘Zhongli No.3’, a high quality plum cultivar, was newly selected from 98 natural-bred off- springs of‘Fali’.‘Fali’was discovered in Yunnan province with its outstanding fruit quality, and was introduced into Zhengzhou Fruit Research Institute in 1996.‘Zhongli No.3’plum was approved by the Approval Committee for Improved Varieties of Forest Tree of Henan Province in December, 2019. The fruit shape of‘Zhongli No.3’plum is oval with attract appearance and the average fruit weight is 98.2 g, and the maximum fruit weight is 150.0 g. The fruit is nearly symmetry, the apex is light round bulge, the suture is shallow, and the cavity is medium deep and narrow. The fruit ground color of is yellowish green and it turns to be bright red at full ripening stage. The peel of‘Zhongli No.3’plum fruit is medi- um thick and covered with skin powder, and the flesh is yellow in color, crisp and delicate in texture, with a low fiber content. The fruit is with very rich in juice, with balanced sugar/acid ratio and intense fruity aroma. The fruit soluble solids content is 16.4%, the total soluble sugar content is 10.21%, the re- ducing sugar content is 3.28%, the total acid content is 1.09%, and the vitamin C content is 5.93 mg·100 g-1. The fruit can be stored at room temperature for about 15-20 days. The tree habit is spreading and tree vigor is strong. The color of perennial branch is dark grey, and one year branch is reddish brown. The habit of one year branch is titled and it is smooth with no pubescence. The internode length is 2.0 cm, and the lenticel is dense and small, grey white in color and elliptical in shape. The flower is with five petals and is white color, with one pistil and 32-41 stamens. The leaf is deep green in color and long ob- long in shape, the leaf apices is acute and the base is cuneiform. The length and width of leaf is 12.2 cm and 6.4 cm, respectively. When observing in Xinxiang city, Henan province‘, Zhongli No.3’plum start- ed germinating in early-March. The early blossom date is in mid-March, the full blossom date is in late  March, and the flowering period is approximately 7 days. The leaf bud starts germinating in late March and expands in early April. Tree defoliation starts in mid-November, and the tree vegetative growth peri- od lasts about 220 days. The fruit development period is about 120 days. The ripening date is late July in Xinxiang, which is about 5 days late than that in Zhengzhou. Fruits of‘Zhongli No.3’plum are mainly bore on bouquet spurs and short fruiting branches. Fruiting starts at the second year and high yield period usually comes at the fourth year after grafting, and the average yield of a five-year tree reaches up to 31.0 kg.‘Zhongli No.3’plum is a new early-ripening cultivar which exhibits strong suit- ability to undesirable circumstances, and is highly and stably productive for high quality fruits. It is suit- able to be cultivated in Henan province and the surrounding provinces and cities.