Italian Prune Plum

Italian Prune Plum is genuinely one of the most commercially significant plum varieties in the world, despite having no single documented individual discoverer — its origin traces simply to its native growing region along Italy's Mediterranean coastline. Real, documented trade statistics show that this cultivar, together with its closely related French cousin, accounts for roughly 70% of the entire world's prune crop, and California alone produces about 99% of all prunes grown in the United States, overwhelmingly from this variety. It is also genuinely well documented under the historic synonym Fellenberg, referenced across multiple 19th and early 20th century American pomological references, as well as the more casual name Empress Plum. The fruit is distinctively egg-shaped with deep purple-blue skin covered in a powdery white bloom, similar in appearance to a blueberry's natural coating, and firm, greenish-yellow flesh that holds its shape well when baked — a real, practical trait behind its long history in European and American baking traditions, including the classic New York Times plum torte recipe that Marion Burros ran annually from 1983 to 1995 due to overwhelming reader demand.