Cultivar 1842: Utter

Utter, also called Utter's Red, is an apple cultivar from Wisconsin. N. E. Hansen described it in his 1902 study of northwestern apples. He says it was widely grown in Wisconsin and other parts of the West. He treats it as a named variety, not as a breeding selection or numbered test apple [S1].

The fruit is above medium to large. Its usual shape is roundish oblate, but Hansen says some fruits may be somewhat elongated, angular, and flattened at the end [S1]. The skin is yellow, splashed, mottled, striped, and strongly dotted with bright red. Fruit from inside the tree may be clear waxen pale yellow. This made the variety unusually variable in appearance [S1]. Hansen also uses Utter as an example of an apple where red color appears as distinct dots [S1].

The flesh is white, fine grained, tender, juicy, mild, pleasantly subacid, and rated good [S1]. The fruit keeps from November to December [S1]. Internal traits include obovate cells, a funnel-shaped tube in one keyed entry, and large, plump seeds in the fuller description [S1].

Hansen's strongest warning is about variation within one tree. He says fruit from different parts of an Utter tree may differ so much that exhibitors at fruit displays sometimes used that variation to increase their number of supposed varieties [S1]. Utter is therefore notable as a Wisconsin apple grown in the West and as a cultivar whose color and form variation can make identification difficult.

The available source gives no direct parentage, breeder, release date, disease record, or hardiness zone. Its cold-climate relevance is geographic: Hansen records it in a northwestern apple bulletin and says it was grown in Wisconsin and other parts of the West [S1].

Summary source basis

• S1: A Study of Northwestern Apples

This summary currently draws chiefly from A Study of Northwestern Apples.

Featured source descriptions

“Fruit-section traits described here include a narrow, rather shallow abrupt wrinkled basin; closed calyx with long large erect convergent segments; closed core barely clasping; ovate slit cells; conical tube; basal stamens; rather few short plump seeds; whitish juicy flesh; sprightly subacid flavor; quality good.”
— ^[1]

“dots white, minute, many, a few small russet dots; cavity regular, deep, usually with trace of russet; stem medium; basin rather shallow, wavy or ribbed; calyx closed, segments very small, divergent”
— ^[1]

“Core open or closed, clasping; cells obovate, slit; tube funnel-shaped; stamens median; seeds not many, very large and plump”
— ^[1]

“the typical form is roundish oblate (sometimes roundish, somewhat elongated, angular and flattened at end)”
— ^[1]

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

• Season summer to early winter; Color with much dotted red; cells obovate ... UtterA Study of Northwestern Apples, p143
• When in part dotted, as in Utter, the red appears as distinct dots.A Study of Northwestern Apples, p124
• When in part dotted, as in Utter, the red appears as distinct dots.A Study of Northwestern Apples, p124

Taxonomy context: No family-tree context surfaced yet.

Related cultivars mentioned in source context