The 'Pink Pearl'

apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, ' ...

is a pink-fleshed

cultivar A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture ...

developed in 1944 by

Albert Etter Albert Etter (1872–1950) was an American plant breeder best known for his work on strawberry and apple varieties. Early life and education Albert Felix Etter was born near Shingle Springs in El Dorado County, California, on November 27, 1872. ...

, a northern

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

breeder. It is a seedling of ' Surprise', another pink-fleshed apple that is believed to be a descendant of '' Malus niedzwetskyana''.

History

In 1940, after many years of work on breeding red-fleshed apples, Etter set up a partnership with George Roeding Jr.'s California Nursery Company, one of the goals of which was to introduce some of Etter's Surprise-derived cultivars to the public. Eventually Roeding settled on test seedling #39, which apparently impressed him with its looks (translucent skin, medium size, and tapered shape), its tart-sweet flavor, and its late-summer ripening date. He secured U.S. plant patent 723 for it on Etter's behalf, named it 'Pink Pearl', and featured it in his 1945 catalog. 'Pink Pearl' apples are generally medium-sized, with a conical shape. They are named for the color of their flesh, which is a bright rosy pink sometimes streaked or mottled with white. They have a translucent, yellow-green skin, and a crisp, juicy flesh with tart to sweet-tart taste. 'Pink Pearl' apples ripen in late August to mid-September. It is susceptible to

apple scab Apple scab is a common disease of plants in the rose family (Rosaceae) that is caused by the ascomycete fungus ''Venturia inaequalis''. While this disease affects several plant genera, including ''Sorbus, Cotoneaster,'' and ''Pyrus'', it is mos ...

, and the fruit tend not to keep well on the tree once ripe. Among Pink Pearl's descendants is 'Pink Princess', a carmine-striped apple with pink to dark pink flesh. It was originally named 'Pink Lady' by its developer, Fred Jansen of Ontario, Canada, but Jansen did not trademark the name and it was subsequently taken over for a quite different Australian apple, to

Cripps Pink Cripps Pink is a cultivar of apple. It is one of several cultivars sold under the trade mark name . It was originally bred by John Cripps at the Western Australia Department of Agriculture (Stoneville Research Station), by crossing the Australi ...

aka Pink Lady, forcing Jansen to change the name of his own apple.

References

External links

Tasting notes, with blossom picture
Apple cultivars {{apple-fruit-stub