Cortland (apple)

Cortland is a cultivar of apple developed at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, New York, United States in 1898.[1] The apple was named after nearby Cortland County, New York. It is among the fifteen most popular in the United States[2] and Canada.

'Cortland'
Hybrid parentage'McIntosh' × 'Ben Davis'
Cultivar'Cortland'
OriginGeneva, New York, United States, 1898

Breeding

After the many attributes of McIntosh were discovered, plant breeders began crossing it with other varieties to enhance its traits. One of the earliest was the 'Cortland'. Its flavor is sweet compared to McIntosh, and it has a flush of crimson against a pale yellow background sprinkled with short, dark red stripes and gray-green dots. It has white flesh and is resistant to browning.

It was first bred by American horticulturalist S.A Beach.[3]


Patented mutants (sports)

The original Cortland variety, introduced in 1915 by the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, produced apples which were 20–30% red, and was not patented.[4] Since then, several sports have been identified and patented:

Date "Inventor" Marketed as Mutated from Assignee Habit Pattern Earlier Color Plant patent number
Jan 19, 1982LaMontLamont, StarkspurstandardStark Bro's NurseryspurstripedsamesameUS plant patent 4800
Aug 30, 1983NicklinRedcortstandardHilltop Nurserystandardstriped2 wk.90% redUS plant patent 5095
Oct 7, 1997HartenhofNS-911standardAdams County Nurserystandardstripedsamered overallUS plant patent 10049

Descendant cultivars

Footnotes
  1. National Fruit Collection, retrieved 19 April 2016
  2. Apple varieties by US Apple Association
  3. Michael H. Chaplin Department of Horticulture, 106 Horticulture Hall, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011 http://hortsci.ashspublications.org/content/28/11/1079.full.pdf
  4. US plant patent 5095


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