The Jonathan apple is a medium-sized sweet
[ ]apple
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...
, with a touch of acid[ and a tough but smooth skin. It is closely related to the ]Esopus Spitzenburg
Esopus Spitzenburg or Aesopus Spitzenburgh is a variety of apple. It was discovered early in the 18th century near Esopus, New York and is reputed to have been a favorite apple of Thomas Jefferson, who planted several of the trees at Monticello. ...
apple, good for eating fresh and for cooking.
History
There are two alternative theories about the origin of the Jonathan apple.
The first is that it was grown by Rachel Negus Higley. Mrs. Higley gathered seeds from the local cider mill in Connecticut before the family made their journey to the wilds of Ohio in 1796 where she planted them. She continued to carefully cultivate her orchard to maturity and named the resulting variety after a young local boy that frequented her orchard: Jonathan Lash.
The other, and more accepted, theory is that it originated from an Esopus Spitzenburg seedling in 1826 from the farm of Philip Rick(s) in Woodstock
Woodstock Music and Art Fair, commonly referred to as Woodstock, was a music festival held during August 15–18, 1969, on Max Yasgur's dairy farm in Bethel, New York, United States, southwest of the town of Woodstock. Billed as "an Aq ...
, Ulster County, New York
Ulster County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. It is situated along the Hudson River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 181,851. The county seat is Kingston. The county is named after the Irish province of Ulster.
History
...
. Although it may have originally been called the "Ricks" apple, it was soon renamed by Judge Buel, President of Albany Horticultural Society, after Jonathan Zander, who discovered the apple and brought it to Buel's attention.[
]
Descendants
* Jonagold—a cross between Jonathan and Golden Delicious apples
*Jonamac—a cross between Jonathan and McIntosh
McIntosh, Macintosh, or Mackintosh (Gaelic: ') may refer to:
Products and brands
* Mackintosh, a form of waterproof raincoat
* Mackintosh's or John Mackintosh and Co., later Rowntree Mackintosh, former UK confectionery company now part of Nestlà ...
apples
*Rubinstar
*Idared
Idared is a type of apple cultivar from Moscow, Idaho, United States. Variety is characterized by a non-uniform skin color.
First developed at the University of Idaho Agricultural Experiment Station in 1942; it is a cross between two apple v ...
* Melrose
*Undine
* Akane
* Querina Florina (scab resistant)
Disease susceptibility
* Scab: high[Dr. Stephen Miller of the USDA Fruit Research Lab in Kearneysville, West Virginia.]
*Powdery mildew
Powdery mildew is a fungal disease that affects a wide range of plants. Powdery mildew diseases are caused by many different species of ascomycete fungi in the order Erysiphales. Powdery mildew is one of the easier plant diseases to identify, a ...
: high
*Cedar apple rust
''Gymnosporangium juniperi-virginianae'' is a plant pathogen that causes cedar-apple rust. In virtually any location where apples or crabapples (''Malus'') and Eastern red cedar ('' Juniperus virginiana'') coexist, cedar apple rust can be a des ...
: high
*Fire blight
Fire blight, also written fireblight, is a contagious disease affecting apples, pears, and some other members of the family Rosaceae. It is a serious concern to apple and pear producers. Under optimal conditions, it can destroy an entire orchard ...
: high
References
Cooking apples
American apples
{{apple-fruit-stub