seb@mtgzz.UUCP (s.e.badian) (09/17/85)
Well, after seeing all the articles on the net and reading my mail I was fairly convinced that a nectarine was a cross between a peach and a plum. But it didn't seem right in my mind. Nectarines don't have skin anything like a plum. They're more like fuzzless peaches. And they certainly taste more like peaches than plums. Then I got this mail: >From: ihnp4!bbncc5!bbnccv!bbncc5!keesan (Morris M. Keesan) Subject: Re: Nectarine vs Peach >I was told as a child that a nectarine is a hybrid cross between a peach and a >plum. I was about to write telling you this, and decided to check my >dictionary before making a fool of myself. My Webster's Ninth New Collegiate >says >nectarine (1611): a peach with a smooth-skinned fruit that is a frequent >somatic mutation of the normal peach; also : its fruit. >I was very surprised, particularly at the date. I thought nectarines were a >much newer invention. >Morris M. Keesan So it seems that most of you are wrong! And I checked my trusty Concise Columbia Encyclopedia and this is what they said: nectarine: name for a tree (Prunus persica nectarina) of the Rose family and for its fruit, a smooth skinned variety of the peach. In appearance, culture, and care the nectarine tree is almost identical to the peach tree. Occasionally a nectarine tree will produce peaches, and a peach tree, nectarines. Obviously, common knowledge is faulty in this regard. Thanks for all the responses and I hope I didn't upset anyone's world by revealing the nectarine secret. Sharon Badian ihnp4!mtgzz!seb ...we got to install some microwave ovens, custom kitchen delivery. we got to move these refrigerators, we got to move these color tv's...