Greengage
subspecies of plant
The greengages are a group of cultivars of the common Middle Eastern plum. Greengages are grown in temperate areas and are known for the rich, confectionery flavour. They are considered to be among the finest dessert plums though they are also consumed unripe when they are pleasantly tart, hard and crunchy.
Description
Greengage fruit are identified by their round-oval shape and smooth-textured, pale green flesh; they are on average smaller than round plums but larger than mirabelle plums—usually between 2 and 4 centimetres (1 and 1+1⁄2 in) diameter. The skin ranges in colour from green to yellowish, with a pale blue "blush" in some cultivars; a few Reine Claudes, such as 'Graf Althanns', are reddish-purple due to crossbreeding with other plums.
Taxonomy
Greengage fruit originated in the Middle East. Though "Green Gages" were previously thought to have been first imported into England from France in 1724 by Sir William Gage, 7th Baronet, a greengage seed was found embedded in a 15th-century building in Hereford. Supposedly, the labels identifying the French plum trees were lost in transit to Gage's home at Hengrave Hall, near Bury St Edmunds. More recent research indicates that it was a cousin and namesake Sir William Gage, 2nd Baronet of Hengrave who was responsible for introducing the greengage to England.
The name Reine Claude (French for "Queen Claude"), by which they are known in France, is in honour of the French queen Claude (1499–1524), Duchess of Brittany.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Greengage” as subspecies of plant. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The subject matters to the science & nature register because the source frames it as subspecies of plant. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Stable identifiers, scientific names and standards terminology offer the best bridge between this overview and specialist evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1283218. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1724, 1499 and 1524.
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This entry incorporates text from “Greengage” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.