Cultivar 11: S. D. Eda

S. D. Eda is a South Dakota crabapple selection recorded in 1940 from Jonathan apple x Tony crab. The bulletin calls it a sister to S. D. Ben, introduced in 1938, and says this cross made S. D. Eda one half Jonathan, one fourth baccata, and one fourth MacMahon White apple. This places it among N. E. Hansen era hardy apple-crab selections shaped by Siberian crab ancestry and dessert apple quality goals. [S1]

The fruit is described as deep solid polished and marbled red, thinly striped over yellow, with flesh that is rich, pleasant, and subacid, much like Jonathan. It was noted as unusually heavy for its size. The source says it cooks like Jonathan, is of excellent quality, and holds its slices well. It also calls it, with its sister selection, a choice dessert apple for late fall and early winter. [S1]

The bulletin suggests that when propagated and grown under orchard conditions, the fruit would probably be larger. This suggests the published description came from an earlier testing or seedling stage, not from fully developed orchard trees. The cited source gives no direct note on disease, bearing habit, or storage length. [S1]

The cited material does not give an explicit hardiness zone for S. D. Eda. Its strongest cold climate context is indirect: it appears in a South Dakota Experiment Station bulletin on hardy fruit breeding for the Northwest and northern plains, and it is grouped with Siberian crab improvement work rather than ordinary dessert apples. [S1]

S. D. Eda is notable as part of a deliberate effort to bring Jonathan quality into much hardier breeding lines. Its pedigree combines standard apple, Siberian crab ancestry, and MacMahon White background in one selection, showing the program's attempt to combine flavor and cooking quality with plains adaptation. [S1]

Summary source basis

• S1: New Hardy Fruits for the Northwest

This summary currently draws chiefly from New Hardy Fruits for the Northwest.

Featured source descriptions

“South Dakota selection indicated by the S. D. prefix.”
— ^[1]

“Asister to S. D. Ben crabapple introduced in 1938.”
— ^[1]

“Listed in the table of contents under "IMPROVING THE SIBERIAN CRABAPPLE" with entry page 10.”
— ^[1]

“Flesh a rich, pleasant subacid much like Jonathan.”
— ^[1]

Direct parent cultivars

• No direct linked parent cultivars promoted yet.

Parentage claim text

• Jonathan apple x Tony crab.

Derived or downstream cultivar links

• No derived or downstream lineage links yet.

Source-story quotations

• The fruit cooks like a Jonathan and is of excellent quality, the slices retaining their shapeNew Hardy Fruits for the Northwest, p11
• Both of these two varieties are choice dessert apples for late fall and early winterNew Hardy Fruits for the Northwest, p11
• This makes it onehalf Jonathan; one-fourth baccata; one-fourth MacMahon White appleNew Hardy Fruits for the Northwest, p11
• When propagated and given orchard conditions probably the fruit will be largerNew Hardy Fruits for the Northwest, p11

Taxonomy context: No family-tree context surfaced yet.

Related cultivars mentioned in source context