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The bullace is a variety of plum. It bears edible fruit similar to those of the damson, and like the damson is considered to be a strain of the ''insititia'' subspecies of ''Prunus domestica''. Although the term has regionally been applied to several different kinds of "wild plum" found in the United Kingdom, 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.6〕〔Hogg, 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.〔Vaughan, J. and Geissler, C. ''The new Oxford book of food plants'', OUP, 2009, p.76〕 Their flavour is usually rather acid until fully ripe. ==Etymology and origin== The name probably originates from the Old French ''beloce'', meaning "sloe", via Middle English ''bolas''. 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; "bullison" in Wiltshire; "scad" in Sussex; and as the "wild damson" in Yorkshire.〔Grigson, G. ''The Englishman's flora'', Hart-Davis, 1975, p.176〕 The similar word ''bwlas'' was used in the Welsh language. Like other varieties of ''Prunus domestica'', the bullace may have had its origin in hybrids between the sloe (''Prunus spinosa'') and cherry plum (''Prunus cerasifera''), though there is also evidence that ''domestica'' was solely descended from the latter.〔(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.〔(Rose-related fruits ), Natural History Museum〕 It is possible that the bullace is genuinely native to the United Kingdom: 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, 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.〔Grigson, G. ''The Englishman's flora'', Hart-Davis, 1975, p.176〕 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. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Bullace」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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