Cultivar 133: Almata

Almata is a Hansen red flesh apple with solid red skin and bright red flesh throughout. It was introduced in 1942. A 1944 South Dakota note says it first fruited in 1941 and had borne every year since. Its recorded pedigree is (Beautiful Arcade apple x Fluke No. 38 crab) x Redflesh crab apple pollen. This places it among the red fleshed apple material promoted for both fruit and ornamental value. [S2]

A 1944 description links the name to Alma Ata, Kazakhstan, near a region where red fleshed apples were said to occur natively. It also gives the older botanical name Pyrus Malus Niedzwetzkyana for that primitive red fleshed type. Hansen's note says Almata was already drawing wide attention soon after its introduction by scions. [S2]

Sources describe the fruit as round conical, regular in form, and about 2 1/2 to 2 7/8 inches across. It is juicy, pleasant, and subacid. The flesh is bright red throughout, and the skin is a solid brilliant red. One source calls it an excellent eating apple. Another stresses its value for excellent red sauce and red jelly and also suggests it for ornamental planting because of its red flowers, skin, and flesh. [S2] [S3]

Hardiness evidence is practical rather than zone numbered. South Dakota extension recommendations list Almata for trial in all three state fruit growing zones, from the southern border and Black Hills valleys to the plains and northern two thirds of the state. This places it in a broad northern prairie testing context. [S1]

Almata matters in the archive as part of the northern red fleshed apple story. It is not just a novelty for red flesh, but a named selection with ornamental, culinary, and historical interest. The surviving notes are brief, but they preserve its parentage, early bearing record, striking color, and link to the older red fleshed apple tradition associated with Alma Ata. [S2] [S3]

Summary source basis

• S1: South Dakota Fruit Garden
• S2: Northern Plant Novelties for 1944
• S3: Northern Plant Novelties for 1945

This summary currently draws chiefly from Northern Plant Novelties for 1944, with 2 additional supporting sources linked below.

Featured source descriptions

“This primitive type found wild was named Pyrus Malus Niedzwetzkyana.”
— ^[3]

“Form round, conical, truncated, regular.”
— ^[3]

“Juicy, pleasant, subacid.”
— ^[3]

“First fruited 1941 and annually since that time.”
— ^[3]

Direct parent cultivars

• No direct linked parent cultivars promoted yet.

Parentage claim text

• Pedigree: (Beautiful Arcade apple x Fluke No. 38 crab) x Redflesh crab apple pollen.

Derived or downstream cultivar links

• No derived or downstream lineage links yet.

Source-story quotations

• HANSEN RED FLESH APPLE | For Trial | ZONE II Counties in Minne-sota that have North Slopes & Valleys of General Prairie | AlmataSouth Dakota Fruit Garden (visual sample pages 9-11), p1
• HANSEN RED FLESH APPLE | For Trial | ZONE II Counties in Minne-sota that have North Slopes & Valleys of General Prairie | AlmataSouth Dakota Fruit Garden (visual sample pages 9-11), p1
• HANSEN RED FLESH APPLE | For Trial | ZONE II Counties in Minne-sota that have North Slopes & Valleys of General Prairie | AlmataSouth Dakota Fruit Garden (visual sample pages 9-11), p1
• HANSEN RED FLESH APPLE | For Trial | ZONE II Counties in Minne-sota that have North Slopes & Valleys of General Prairie | AlmataSouth Dakota Fruit Garden (visual sample pages 9-11), p1

Taxonomy context: No family-tree context surfaced yet.

Related cultivars mentioned in source context