The bullace is a variety of

plum A plum is a fruit of some species in Prunus subg. Prunus, ''Prunus'' subg. ''Prunus'.'' Dried plums are often called prunes, though in the United States they may be labeled as 'dried plums', especially during the 21st century. Plums are ...

. It bears edible fruit similar to those of the

damson The damson (), damson plum, or damasceneSamuel Johnson equates "damascene" and "damson" and for "damask plum" simply states "see Plum" (''A Dictionary of the English Language'', 1755, p. 532). Later expanded editions also distinguish between "da ...

, and like the damson is considered to be a strain of the ''insititia'' subspecies of ''

Prunus domestica ''Prunus domestica'' is a species of flowering plant in the family Rosaceae. A deciduous tree, it includes many varieties of the fruit trees known as plums in English, though not all plums belong to this species. The greengages and damsons als ...

''. Although the term has regionally been applied to several different kinds of "wild plum" found in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, it is usually taken to refer to varieties with a spherical shape, as opposed to the oval damsons.Taylor, H. V. ''The Plums of England'', Lockwood, 1949, p.6Hogg, R. ''The fruit manual: a guide to the fruits and fruit trees of Great Britain'', JHO, 1884, p.689 Unlike nearly all damsons, bullaces may be either "white" (i.e. yellow or green) or "black" (i.e. blue or purple) in colour, and ripen up to six weeks later in the year.Vaughan, J. and Geissler, C. ''The new Oxford book of food plants'', OUP, 2009, p.76 Though smaller than most damsons, bullaces are much larger than the closely related

sloe ''Prunus spinosa'', called blackthorn or sloe, is an Old World species of flowering plant in the rose family, Rosaceae. It is locally naturalized in parts of the New World. The fruits are used to make sloe gin in Britain and patxaran in Ba ...

. Their flavour is usually rather acidic until fully ripe.

Etymology and origin

The name probably originates from the

Old French Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ...

', meaning "sloe", via Middle English '. Wild plums were formerly given the related name "bullies" in parts of Lincolnshire.Peacock, E. ''A glossary of words used in the wapentakes of Manley and Corringham, Lincolnshire'', English Dialect Society, 1889, p.79 They were also known as the "bullum-tree" in

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

; "bullison" in

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated to Wilts) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It borders Gloucestershire to the north, Oxfordshire to the north-east, Berkshire to the east, Hampshire to the south-east, Dorset to the south, and Somerset to ...

; "scad" in

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

; and as the "wild damson" in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

.Grigson, G. ''The Englishman's flora'', Hart-Davis, 1975, p.176 The similar word ' was used in the

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic languages, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales by about 18% of the population, by some in England, and in (the Welsh c ...

. Like other varieties of ''Prunus domestica'', the bullace may have had its origin in hybrids between the sloe (''

Prunus spinosa ''Prunus spinosa'', called blackthorn or sloe, is an Old World species of flowering plant in the rose family, Rosaceae. It is locally naturalized in parts of the New World. The fruits are used to make sloe gin in Britain and patxaran in B ...

'') and cherry plum (''

Prunus cerasifera __NOTOC__ ''Prunus cerasifera'' is a species of plum known by the common names cherry plum and myrobalan plum.Rose-related fruits
Natural History Museum Another theory suggests that the bullace developed (or was selected) over time from the sloe, without the involvement of ''Prunus cerasifera''.Woldring, H. "On the origin of plums: a study of sloe, damson, cherry plums, domestic plums and their intermediate forms", in ''Palaeohistoria'', 39,40 (1997-1998): Institute of Archaeology, Groningen, 535 ''Prunus insititia'' is still, however, occasionally regarded as a separate (entirely native) species. It is possible that the bullace is genuinely native to Great Britain: the horticulturalist Harold Taylor, in his book ''The Plums of England'', described it as "the only truly English plum", observing that all other hybrid varieties of plum and damson had at least some non-native origins.Taylor, 1949, p.2 Although once cultivated, and familiar to gardeners of the

Tudor period In England and Wales, the Tudor period occurred between 1485 and 1603, including the Elizabethan era during the reign of Elizabeth I (1558–1603). The Tudor period coincides with the dynasty of the House of Tudor in England, which began with ...

, the bullace gradually fell out of favour as newer, larger or sweeter types of damson or plum displaced it, and it hung on at the fringes of cultivation. Its hardiness meant that, like the damson, it was occasionally planted as a windbreak or hedging tree, and until the 20th century was regarded as valuable for providing fruit very late in the year.

Varieties

Four main varieties of bullace are recognised in England: the White, Black, Shepherd's and Langley. The bullace may be found as a small tree, growing to around 8 metres in height, or as a bush, distinguishable from the sloe by its broader leaves and small number or complete absence of spines. There is, however, a wide variation between trees in different districts due to hybridization and local selection. Bullaces generally ripen in October–November, rather later than other types of plum, and fruit heavily. They may sometimes be found growing wild in woods or hedgerows, particularly near old farmhouses; others may be found in old gardens or orchards, or can still be purchased from some nurseries.

Black Bullace

The Black Bullace is the common "wild" bullace of woods in England, recognisable by its small, round black or dark purple fruit.Bagenal, N. B. ''Fruit growing: modern cultural methods'', Ward, Lock, 1939, p.186 It is sometimes classified as ''insititia'' var. ''nigra''.Sell, P. "The cherries and plums of Cambridgeshire", ''Nature in Cambridgeshire'', 33 (1991), 31 It can be quite astringent until very ripe, or subject to a slight frost; a larger variety known as the "New Black Bullace" was later developed from it.

White Bullace

The White Bullace, sometimes classified as ''insititia'' var. ''syriaca'', has small, yellowish fruit, with greenish flesh.Lindley, G. ''A guide to the orchard and fruit garden'', Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown & Green, 1831, p.467 A very old variety, it was once known in

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

and

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

by the name "cricksies" or "crickses", formed on an earlier plural "creeks", and probably originating in Anglo-Norman '.''

Notes and Queries ''Notes and Queries'', also styled ''Notes & Queries'', is a long-running quarterly scholarly journal that publishes short articles related to " English language and literature, lexicography, history, and scholarly antiquarianism".From the inner ...

'', 1851, p.451, and 1898, p.117 It was grown in large quantities in

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

in the 19th century, for use in preserving or cooking; Hogg described the flesh as "firm, juicy, sweet and subacid".Hogg, p.257 It is also occasionally referred to as the "Golden Bullace".

Shepherd's Bullace

This variety has relatively large round fruit, ripening by October to a grass green or yellowish green colour, with small red spots on the sunward side.''Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society'', 1920, p.623 It was formerly common in

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

and

and may still be found in hedgerows in eastern England.

Langley Bullace

The Langley Bullace, or "Veitch's Black Bullace", is by far the newest variety, being first raised in 1902 by the Veitch nurseries at

Langley, Berkshire Langley, also known as Langley Marish, is an area of Slough in Berkshire, England. It is east of Slough town centre and west of Charing Cross in Central London. It was a separate civil parish and village until the 1930s, when the built-up par ...

. It was a cross between an Orleans plum and the Farleigh damson, and is therefore not considered a true bullace in some sources.Bagenal, p.188 This is the largest variety, and when ripe - which occurs in November - is much the sweetest.

Other varieties

Other names have appeared, but are likely to represent either the above broad types or variations of them; Abercrombie and Mawe, writing in 1779, described three types of bullace, the "white", "black" and "red".Abercrombie, J. and Mawe, T. ''The British fruit-gardener, and art of pruning'', 1779, p.99 Loudon also mentions a black, white and red bullace, as well a double flowered variety ''flore pleno''.London, J. C. ''Arboretum et Fruticetum Britannicum'', 1844, p. li Hogg described an "Essex Bullace", which appears in all respects identical to the Shepherd's Bullace, and a "Royal Bullace", said to bear very large, yellow-green fruit. A "New Large Bullace", probably synonymous with the Royal Bullace, was occasionally mentioned, described as very similar to the Shepherd's Bullace but with larger leaves, many of which were glandless, a much more vigorous habit, and lighter cropping.''Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society'', 1906, 623

Uses

Bullaces are often stated to only be suitable for cooking.''RHS Complete Gardener's Manual'', Dorling Kindersley, 2011, p.266 As well as being used for stewing and making various

fruit preserves Fruit preserves are preparations of fruits whose main preserving agent is sugar and sometimes acid, often stored in glass jars and used as a condiment or spread. There are many varieties of fruit preserves globally, distinguished by the meth ...

, they were also traditionally used to make

fruit wine Fruit wines are fermented alcoholic beverages made from a variety of base ingredients (other than grapes); they may also have additional flavors taken from fruits, flowers, and herbs. This definition is sometimes broadened to include any alcohol ...

, and a bullace pie was stated to be one of the usual centrepieces of a 19th-century harvest home supper in the south of England.'' British Cyclopædia of the Arts, Sciences, History, Geography, Literature, Natural History, and Biography,'' Wm. S. Orr, 1838, p. 643 However, some bullaces are palatable raw when sufficiently ripe.

References

{{Hybrid Prunus Plum cultigens Flora of Great Britain