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Fruit & Orchards

Unusual dark-leafed peach

15 years ago

I was browsing the garden magazines in Borders yesterday and came across a photo of a nice garden (not sure where, but I think it was in the USA) that featured large, bold plants. The backdrop was Rhus typhina (staghorn sumac) and in the foreground was a tropical-looking shrubby tree with long, narrow, dark red-purple leaves. I had no clue what it was until I read the caption: peach (Prunus persica) 'Royal Red Leaf'. It was so unusual it truly looked like something that should have been growing three or four zones warmer. Has anybody ever heard of this cultivar? I tried looking it up on the web and found precious little information (and no photos, sorry!) although with a little more digging I found that it also goes by the names 'Foliis Rubris' and 'Atropurpurea'.

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Comments (5)

hoseman
15 years ago
Try posting in the TREES forum. I believe this tree is used in the Landscape setting, not an orchard.
olpea
15 years ago
Johnnie,

If you want a dark leafed peach, you could try "Flat Wonderful". It's a peento type with purplish leaves. I have to credit Don Yellman, who helped me identify a friend's "Flat Wonderful" tree. I never tasted the fruit, but the friend said it was very good. Gurney's or Henry Fields used to sell them. I know they don't have the best reputation as nurseries, but I believe they had exclusive rights to sell the trees.

Red leaf peach rootstock also produces a redish purple leaf, but the fruit is small and poor quality.
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chills71
15 years ago
Stark Bros. calls theirs "Bonfire Ornamental Peach" and states that the fruits are inedible.

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JohnnieB
Original Author
15 years ago
Thanks everybody, I did a little more research and it looks like 'Foliis Rubris' or 'Royal Red Leaf' may actually be the red-leafed rootstock mentioned by Olpea. According to Dirr it's used for grafting many peach cultivars because the leaf color makes it obvious whether the graft took or not. I wouldn't be growing this for the fruit anyway; the plant itself was quite fabulous-looking.
Embothrium
15 years ago
The name 'Foliis Rubris' ('Purpurea', 'Rubrifolia', 'Atropurpurea') was used for a variety being sold in Belgium during 1873. It produces unimpressive flowers and fruit. 'Royal Redleaf' ('Ackerman Redleaf') was introduced by Ackerman Nurseries, Bridgeman, Michigan ca. 1940. It produces large white flowers and white-fleshed fruits. Other introductions include 'Bloodleaf', 'Hiawatha', 'Kingston Redleaf', 'Rancho Redleaf' and 'Rutgers Redleaf'.

The red-leaved rootstock cultivar resembling a peach tree in appearance I am aware of is called 'Citation'. It was patented as "Interspecific rootstock tree 4-G-816".

Here is a link that might be useful: United States Patent: PP05112

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