Prune Virginale - Botanical poster 50x70cm

Prunus virginalis - Virginal Plum

A rare fruit among old plum varieties, the Virginal plum is distinguished by its yellowish-green, waxy skin, dotted with small whitish specks and sometimes marked with purple spots.

Poiteau emphasizes a crucial detail: this plum must be enjoyed precisely when its skin still displays the typical green of the Reine-Claude. At this stage, its firm flesh releases a delicious fragrance that is lost with full maturity (when the skin becomes dull). A lesson in the art of fruit-eating, recorded with the precision of a naturalist.

The Virginal plum tree forms a strong and vigorous stem, with spreading and slightly tortuous branches. Its pale green, slightly hairy buds take on a brown or purple tint in the sun.

The leaves, oval to elliptical and convex, measure 10 to 16 centimeters long. They are dark green and slightly shiny on top, pale and hairy underneath, and bordered with rounded teeth. The thick petiole bears two or three large cup-shaped glands.

The flowers, 3 centimeters wide, grow in clusters of two or three on pubescent peduncles.

The rounded fruit reaches 4 centimeters in diameter, sometimes slightly flattened at the base and apex, marked by an often deep furrow. Its greenish, melting flesh, a little tart before full maturity, separates well from the skin but adheres strongly to the thick stone. The juice is abundant and very pleasant. Poiteau warns against confusion with the white Apricot plum, which is similar in color.

This plate is taken from the Traité des Arbres Fruitiers by Pierre-Antoine Poiteau and Pierre Jean François Turpin, a botanical encyclopedia published between 1807 and 1835, a major reference in 19th-century naturalistic illustration.

It combines the rigor of scientific drawing with a rare artistic sensibility, characteristic of the great plates from the golden age of illustrated botany.

Printing, media, shipping

• Each poster is printed using 12-color giclée printing, the benchmark for art workshops for reproducing fine tones, subtle gradients, and the most delicate botanical details.
• 200 gsm paper, soft matte finish, 0.26 mm thickness: a rendering close to the original engraving, clear, non-reflective, designed for hanging.
• Printed on FSC-certified paper, produced individually to order.
• Shipped in a rigid protective tube.