Cultivar 109: Florence

Florence is an old Minnesota crabapple. Some sources call it an apple, but prairie references place it with crabapples. Its parentage is unknown. Sources link it to Peter M. Gideon at Excelsior, Minnesota, with introduction about 1885 and a date of 1886 in later reference summaries. It stayed well known on the northern prairies and was still remembered decades later as a good crab.[S1] [S3] [S4] [S5]

Prairie sources describe Florence as a medium to fairly large crabapple with oblate fruit about 3.5 cm across. The skin is yellow white to yellowish white and heavily covered with bright pink or bright pinkish red. The flesh is yellow with red markings or a red tinge. It is crisp, juicy, and briskly sub acid but pleasant, with a small compact core and a thin but tough skin.[S1] [S4]

It ripens in late August or from late August into mid September, depending on the source. Florence was valued for jelly and canning. Some sources rate it fair to good for fresh eating, while others stress it more as a cooking or canning fruit. Prairie descriptions call the yield good, and older notes describe it as a heavy annual bearer.[S1] [S4]

The tree is described as spreading, moderately vigorous, healthy, hardy, and wide spreading, with regular heavy crops.[S4] [S5] One source also notes moderate resistance to fire blight.[S4] Prairie evidence is mixed at the cold edge. Florence appears in South Dakota trial recommendations across the state's garden zones, including the northern prairie zone, and prairie Canadian references gave it hardiness notation H2-3. Manchester's remark that it lacked dependable hardiness at Jarvie shows it was not equally reliable at every severe site.[S1] [S2] [S4]

Florence also belongs to the older history of Siberian crab improvement. A South Dakota breeding note names it with Whitney among old time varieties that still retained popularity, placing it in the early northern tradition of improving crabapples for larger, better fruit.[S3] This helps explain why prairie writers kept recording it. Florence was not just another small crab, but one of the older named fruits that bridged ornament, utility, and edible quality in the cold climate orchard.[S3] [S4]

Sources place its introduction about 1885 or its date as 1886.[S1] [S4] They also vary between calling it an apple and a crabapple, though prairie sources consistently treat it as crabapple material.[S4] [S5]

Summary source basis

• S1: Edible Apples in Prairie Canada
• S2: South Dakota Fruit Garden
• S3: Northern Plant Novelties for 1944
• S4: Florence
• S5: TreeFruitsGrownInPrairieOrchards WRLeslie 1946 HQ

This summary currently draws chiefly from Edible Apples in Prairie Canada, with 4 additional supporting sources linked below.

Featured source descriptions

“Skin thin and tough.”
— ^[1]

“Ripens late August.”
— ^[1]

“Yield described as good.”
— ^[1]

“Listed in the Summer Apples sweet crab varieties for trial row across the zones; Zone III appears to mark 1 suggested.”
— ^[3]

Direct parent cultivars

• No direct linked parent cultivars promoted yet.

Parentage claim text

• No direct breeding_cross claim text yet.

Derived or downstream cultivar links

• No derived or downstream lineage links yet.

Source-story quotations

• SUMMER APPLES | Varieties for Trial | Sweet Crab | ZONE II Counties in Minne-sota that have North Slopes & Valleys of General Prairie | FlorenceSouth Dakota Fruit Garden (visual sample pages 9-11), p1
• SUMMER APPLES | Varieties for Trial | Sweet Crab | ZONE II Counties in Minne-sota that have North Slopes & Valleys of General Prairie | FlorenceSouth Dakota Fruit Garden (visual sample pages 9-11), p1
• SUMMER APPLES | Varieties for Trial | Sweet Crab | ZONE II Counties in Minne-sota that have North Slopes & Valleys of General Prairie | FlorenceSouth Dakota Fruit Garden (visual sample pages 9-11), p1
• SUMMER APPLES | Varieties for Trial | Sweet Crab | ZONE II Counties in Minne-sota that have North Slopes & Valleys of General Prairie | FlorenceSouth Dakota Fruit Garden (visual sample pages 9-11), p1

Taxonomy context: No family-tree context surfaced yet.

Related cultivars mentioned in source context