Identifying Wild Apples (Maybe)

Honeybees and numerous native pollinators were busy during those warm, bright, sunny spring days when the apples were in full bloom. The results are before us now, an abundance of apple-laden trees. Pale yellows to shiny purple-reds and all colors in between--these apples come in many shapes and sizes.

Understandably, a few choice specimens show up at county Extension offices this time of year, accompanied by the inevitable question "What kind is it?"

Here's a selection of descriptions of some old-time/heirloom varieties that may match what you've picked:

Duchess (of Oldenburgh) A late summer apple. Medium large, roundish and flattened a little at the ends. Light red in stripes and splashes on a yellow skin. Tart, juicy, yellow-white flesh. Believed to have originated near Russia's Volga River, so pretty hardy

Wolf River Quite large! Smooth yellow-white skin splashed with bright red, very russet. Coarse yellow-white flesh that's often soft and mealy by time you get around to picking it. Not a storage apple but said to dry rather well. Well thought of for its resistance to apple scab.

Yellow Transparent A medium-size, roundish apple with--yes--nearly transparent yellow skin, sometimes with a red blush. Its crisp, sub-acid flesh and early ripening make it popular for those first fresh apple pies and sauces.

Chenango Strawberry A rather different shape: large, oblong, conical, angular. Shiny, striped crimson skin on a yellow ground. White tender flesh of pleasant flavor. A very pretty apple; unfortunately poor shipping qualities and a tendency to ripen over a long time period makes it rare in today's orchards.

Blue Pearmain There are many Pearmain types which are late-season or winter apples. This one is very large, round-to-oblong shaped and noticeably "heavy-in-the-hand". A dark purple-red skin in broken stripes on a lighter background, conspicuous blue bloom, and "frosted-window-pane" russeting makes it stand out in an orchard. A long-time cider-ingredient favorite.

Hyslop Crab Large for a crabapple and round. Fruit grows in clusters. Bright crimson red skin with a bluish bloom, a strikingly attractive apple best harvested early for best quality. Known for its hardiness.

That's a start, but it hardly makes a dent in my reference, The American Fruit Culturist, by JJ Thomas, from which I've pulled most of these descriptions. It's the up-to-date edition a book first published in 1897, listing nearly 1000 different apple varieties, from Abbotts Sweet to Zuckoffs Winter. Besides the obvious identifying characteristics, the book cites stem length, basin and calyx (flower-end) appearance, seed cavity form, and flavor (a hard-to-define trait). It also notes potential "changes wrought by climate and soil."

Ah, if only identifying wild apples were really that easy.

Clones vs seedlings
Long before we began cloning sheep we've been cloning apples, but with far greater success. Because apple varieties don't grow grow true from seed, we propagate the varieties we want using asexual cloning techniques such as grafting.

Scions (bud-containing twigs) of a desired variety are grafted in spring onto rootstocks selected for specific purposes such as dwarfing growth habit, cold tolerance, etc. The swollen area at the base of the tree is the graft union site.

This means the McIntosh growing in your backyard is a clone of the one developed by John McIntosh of Dundas County, Ontario, in 1870, by cross-pollinating two varieties popular in those times.

However, once the bees go to work carrying your backyard Mac's pollen to another tree down the road, there's no telling what you'll get if you plant its seed. Perhaps the next Honeycrisp, but more likely, one that fails the "bite and spit test."

We've been growing apples for many generations in New Hampshire, and the bees have been busy mixing and recombining the apples' genetic materials the whole time.Think of the possibilities!

Identifying wild apples? Probably impossible.

article and photo by Steve Turaj, Coos County Agricultural Resources educator

Posted October 18, 2007