Taxon ID:
Usage Facet: class=edible; edible_score=1.0; ornamental_score=0.0; inferred_from_taxon=no
Relationships: 0 | Linked Entities (visible): 0 | Evidence claims: 11 | History events: 0 | Catalog issue offerings: 0
Open profile JSON | Open lineage explorer | Open lineage JSON
Evidence Badge: emerging | claims=11 | sources=1 | contradictions=0
Claim Types: description_snippet:3, flavor_profile:1, fruit_color:1, fruit_size:1, growth_habit:1, productivity:1, storage_duration:1 | Open evidence summary JSON | Open citation drawer JSON
Connected Views: lineage table | lineage graph | history charts | trait matrix | search
Link Filter: showing signal links (candidate hidden); hidden candidate links=0. Show candidate links
Roman Stem is an old eastern apple cultivar. N. E. Hansen's 1902 bulletin records it as originating at Burlington, New Jersey [S1]. Hansen included it in northwestern apple descriptions and noted its hardiness in Iowa. He called it one of the hardiest old eastern varieties for central and northern Iowa [S1].
The fruit is medium or smaller, roundish, and often irregular or unequal [S1]. The skin is rich yellow with a faint bronze blush, russet patches, a few reddish specks, and many distinct russet or green dots [S1]. The flesh is yellow with yellow veinings, tender, juicy, spicy, and rich subacid. Hansen rated its quality excellent [S1]. Roman Stem keeps from November to March, placing it among late winter apples in Hansen's classification [S1].
The tree is very productive, moderately vigorous, spreading, and irregular [S1]. Hansen describes a short stem, narrow abrupt wavy basin, closed calyx, closed barely clasping core, ovate slit cells, conical tube, and median stamens [S1]. Elsewhere in the bulletin, Roman Stem is an example of a lipped cavity, where flesh crowds up against the stem [S1].
No direct USDA-style hardiness zone is given. The clearest hardiness claim is regional: Roman Stem was considered one of the hardiest old eastern varieties for central and northern Iowa [S1]. This supports northern continental adaptation, but does not establish zone 3 hardiness.
The packet gives no direct parentage, breeder, release date, or descendant breeding role for Roman Stem. It is placed as an apple cultivar within Hansen's Malus domestica cultivar descriptions, with added classification notes from fruit and floral morphology [S1].
Summary source basis
This summary currently draws chiefly from A Study of Northwestern Apples.
Featured source descriptions
“Stem short; basin narrow, abrupt, wavy, somewhat corrugated; calyx closed, segments erect convergent. Core closed, barely clasping; cells ovate, slit; tube conical; stamens median.”
— [1]
“Roman Stem is cited as an example of a fruit with a lipped cavity, where part of the flesh crowds up against the stem.”
— [1]
“Cavity wide, shallow, usually lipped.”
— [1]
“Described as one of the hardiest of the old eastern varieties for central and northern Iowa.”
— [1]
Direct parent cultivars
Parentage claim text
Derived or downstream cultivar links
Source-story quotations
Taxonomy context: No family-tree context surfaced yet.
Related cultivars mentioned in source context
Zone assertions are structured rows. Hardiness claim text appears in evidence claims and page-linked citations.
| Zone Min | Zone Max | Zone Text | Assertion Type | Outcome | Location | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No explicit zone assertion rows yet. | ||||||
No linked media assets.
| Document | Title/URL | Rights | Claims | Relationships | History Events | Pages | Snippets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | A Study of Northwestern Apples | unknown | 11 | 0 | 0 | p95 p140 | Fruit cavity noted as wide, shallow, and usually lipped.; Floral characters include conical tube and median stamens.; Stem short; basin narrow, abrupt, wavy, somewhat corrugated; calyx closed, segments erect convergent. |
| Document | Page | Claim Type | Claim | Quote | Match |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | p140 | description_snippet | Fruit cavity noted as wide, shallow, and usually lipped. | Tube conical; stamens median ... Cavity wide, shallow, usually lipped ... Roman Stem | page_block:0.90 |
| 14 | p140 | description_snippet | Floral characters include conical tube and median stamens. | Tube conical; stamens median ... Cavity wide, shallow, usually lipped ... Roman Stem | page_block:0.90 |
| 14 | p95 | description_snippet | Stem short; basin narrow, abrupt, wavy, somewhat corrugated; calyx closed, segments erect convergent. Core closed, barely clasping; cells ovate, slit; tube conical; stamens median. | Roman Stem—Origin, Burlington, New Jersey. Tree very productive, of moderate vigor, spreading, irregular... Fruit medium or below... November to March. | page_block:0.90 |
| 14 | p95 | storage_duration | Keeps November to March. | Roman Stem—Origin, Burlington, New Jersey. Tree very productive, of moderate vigor, spreading, irregular... Fruit medium or below... November to March. | page_block:0.90 |
| 14 | p95 | flavor_profile | Flesh is yellow with yellow veinings, tender, juicy, spicy, rich subacid; quality rated excellent. | Roman Stem—Origin, Burlington, New Jersey. Tree very productive, of moderate vigor, spreading, irregular... Fruit medium or below... November to March. | page_block:0.90 |
| 14 | p95 | fruit_color | Surface is rich yellow with faint bronze blush, with patches of russet and a few reddish specks; dots distinct, many, russet or green. | Roman Stem—Origin, Burlington, New Jersey. Tree very productive, of moderate vigor, spreading, irregular... Fruit medium or below... November to March. | page_block:0.90 |
| 14 | p95 | fruit_size | Fruit is medium or below, roundish, often irregular and unequal. | Roman Stem—Origin, Burlington, New Jersey. Tree very productive, of moderate vigor, spreading, irregular... Fruit medium or below... November to March. | page_block:0.90 |
| 14 | p95 | entry_hardiness_observation | Described as one of the hardiest of the old eastern varieties for central and northern Iowa. | Roman Stem—Origin, Burlington, New Jersey. Tree very productive, of moderate vigor, spreading, irregular... Fruit medium or below... November to March. | page_block:0.90 |
| 14 | p95 | growth_habit | Tree growth is of moderate vigor, spreading, irregular. | Roman Stem—Origin, Burlington, New Jersey. Tree very productive, of moderate vigor, spreading, irregular... Fruit medium or below... November to March. | page_block:0.90 |
| 14 | p95 | productivity | Tree is described as very productive. | Roman Stem—Origin, Burlington, New Jersey. Tree very productive, of moderate vigor, spreading, irregular... Fruit medium or below... November to March. | page_block:0.90 |
| 14 | p95 | entry_location | Origin is Burlington, New Jersey. | Roman Stem—Origin, Burlington, New Jersey. Tree very productive, of moderate vigor, spreading, irregular... Fruit medium or below... November to March. | page_block:0.90 |
| Year | Nursery | Catalog Issue | Relation |
|---|---|---|---|
| No catalog issue offerings linked. | |||
| Relation | Type | ID | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| No linked entities at this filter level. | |||
| Type | Claim | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
| description_snippet | Fruit cavity noted as wide, shallow, and usually lipped. | 0.83 |
| description_snippet | Floral characters include conical tube and median stamens. | 0.86 |
| description_snippet | Stem short; basin narrow, abrupt, wavy, somewhat corrugated; calyx closed, segments erect convergent. Core closed, barely clasping; cells ovate, slit; tube conical; stamens median. | 0.94 |
| storage_duration | Keeps November to March. | 0.98 |
| flavor_profile | Flesh is yellow with yellow veinings, tender, juicy, spicy, rich subacid; quality rated excellent. | 0.96 |
| fruit_color | Surface is rich yellow with faint bronze blush, with patches of russet and a few reddish specks; dots distinct, many, russet or green. | 0.95 |
| fruit_size | Fruit is medium or below, roundish, often irregular and unequal. | 0.98 |
| entry_hardiness_observation | Described as one of the hardiest of the old eastern varieties for central and northern Iowa. | 0.94 |
| growth_habit | Tree growth is of moderate vigor, spreading, irregular. | 0.97 |
| productivity | Tree is described as very productive. | 0.97 |
| entry_location | Origin is Burlington, New Jersey. | 0.99 |
| ID | Type | Year | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| No history events. | |||