"Sacha" wrote in message

We had some people in today who live in France and they were looking for
Damsons which they say seem to be unknown there (Paris and Corsica) This
got us onto what is the difference between a Damson and a Plum because
both
are Prunus and probably domestica? I understand that damsons tend to
make
smaller trees but if anyone can explain in terms of flavour or use,
enquiring minds would be really grateful. ;-)

You do ask some interesting questions. I just mentally chuck them all into
the 'prunus' bin in my brain, so was interested to find out more after
reading the discussions. But I must say, the answers you got on this
one!!!!.......they had the head of this little black duck spinning.......

Anyhowever, I wandered off and got out my books on growing fruit in Oz and
found the following info in the one I enjoy most so I offer it for what it's
worth(tailoring it and cutting many pages to a few paras to try to fit the
Continental flavour of your post) .

The sloe has 32 chromosomes, the myrobalan (P. cerasifera) has 16 and 'a
freak combination of the two has been shown to occasionally give a plant
like P. domestica, with its 48 chromosomes'.

P. insitia also has 48 chromosomes and within this group are the bullace,
the damson, the mirabelles and the St. Julians. Mirabelles widely grown in
France mainly for preserves and tarts, better cooked than fresh. St. Julians
mainly used as rootstock, their plums much like damsons 'and the quetsche
also known as the German prune, or Carlsbad plum, is another plum of the
insitia tye, used widely as a culinary fruit.'

There is also an interesting discussion on archaelogical finds of plum
stones and that 'no domestica plum stones...have been found under the ashes
of Pompeii' and that the plums mentioned by Pliny (who wrote of the plum
from Damascus)were 'all insitias, or if domesticas, were recent
introductions to Europe'

Interesting topic.