Cultivar 245: Crimson Beauty

Taxon ID: 1

Usage Facet: class=edible; edible_score=1.0; ornamental_score=0.0; inferred_from_taxon=yes

Relationships: 1 | Linked Entities (visible): 1 | Evidence claims: 13 | History events: 1 | Catalog issue offerings: 0

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Evidence Badge: emerging | claims=13 | sources=2 | contradictions=0

Claim Types: description_snippet:3, anecdote_snippet:1, breeder_reference:1, breeding_cross:1, flavor_profile:1, fruit_color:1, fruit_size:1, keeping_quality:1, recommendation_context:1 | Open evidence summary JSON | Open citation drawer JSON

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Wiki Draft

Crimson Beauty is an early apple described in prairie fruit references as medium sized and roundish, with greenish yellow skin washed with crimson. The flesh is yellowish, tender, and slightly acid. It is said to have little flavor and only fair eating quality. Sources also describe it as an early summer apple that drops easily, turns mealy, and does not keep well. [S1] [S3]

Prairie sources attribute Crimson Beauty to F. P. Sharp and date it to about 1880, but they disagree on the place. One gives Woodstock, New Jersey. Another gives Woodstock, New Brunswick. It was indexed in prairie orchard literature and was sometimes called Early Red Bird in error. One prairie note says it served in colder parts of the United States much as Heyer #12 did locally, and as a red skinned substitute for Yellow Transparent, though it was considered less hardy. [S1] [S3]

The fruit is medium sized, greenish to greenish yellow, and heavily washed with crimson. It ripens very early, from early to late August in one prairie bulletin, and is described elsewhere simply as early. Quality is only fair. The flesh is tender and slightly acid. Keeping quality is poor. Sources agree it is not a storage apple. [S1] [S3]

The tree is described as spreading and productive, with medium hardiness in prairie terms. This fits the comparison that it was not nearly as hardy as Yellow Transparent. The prairie record places Crimson Beauty among apples that could be grown, or at least discussed, in prairie orchards, but not among the hardiest standard apples in the region. [S1] [S3]

In the broader archive, Crimson Beauty is placed in the apple genus Malus and appears in prairie orchard and hardy apple reference works as a named historic cultivar, not as a breeding program release from Morden or Ottawa. A separate lineage record links it to the later cross Crimson Beauty x Red Melba, which indicates breeding use, not its own parentage. [S1] [S3]

Summary source basis

This summary currently draws chiefly from Edible Apples in Prairie Canada, with 3 additional supporting sources linked below.

Featured source descriptions

“Listed under Apples in the page's 'List of Varieties Described.'”
[4]
“Nursery source number 23 is associated with this entry.”
[3]
“Early ripening; drops easily and becomes mealy.”
[1]
“Fair quality.”
[1]

Parentage

Direct parent cultivars

Parentage claim text

Lineage Links

Derived or downstream cultivar links

Story Highlights

Source-story quotations

Family Navigation

Taxonomy context: No family-tree context surfaced yet.

Related cultivars mentioned in source context

No sibling cultivars surfaced from source quotes yet.

Cold Hardiness

Zone assertions are structured rows. Hardiness claim text appears in evidence claims and page-linked citations.

Zone MinZone MaxZone TextAssertion TypeOutcomeLocationConfidence
No explicit zone assertion rows yet.

Media Gallery

No linked media assets.

Citation Drawer (Top Supporting Sources)

DocumentTitle/URLRightsClaimsRelationshipsHistory EventsPagesSnippets
3Edible Apples in Prairie Canadaunknown1200p24Hardiness rated borderline hardy (H3).; FB1 is recorded with the entry as a fireblight-susceptibility code.; Rated H3, meaning borderline hardy.; Said by F.P. Sharp to be sometimes erroneously called Early Red Bird.
72Quinteunknown111n/aCrimson Beauty x Red Melba; relationship: cross_parent; history: Crimson Beauty x Red Melba

Citation Evidence (Page-Linked Quotes)

DocumentPageClaim TypeClaimQuoteMatch
3p24entry_hardiness_observationHardiness rated borderline hardy (H3).Crimson Beauty P.F. Sharp, Woodstock, NJ (c. 1880) Fruit of medium size, greenish, fair quality, early, drops easily and becomes mealy. Poor keeper. Manchester notes "Early summer apple of the colder regions..." Used in page_block:0.90
3p24description_snippetFB1 is recorded with the entry as a fireblight-susceptibility code.Crimson Beauty P.F. Sharp, Woodstock, NJ (c. 1880) Fruit of medium size, greenish, fair quality, early, drops easily and becomes mealy. Poor keeper. Manchester notes "Early summer apple of the colder regions..." Used in page_block:0.90
3p24entry_hardiness_observationRated H3, meaning borderline hardy.Crimson Beauty P.F. Sharp, Woodstock, NJ (c. 1880) Fruit of medium size, greenish, fair quality, early, drops easily and becomes mealy. Poor keeper. Manchester notes "Early summer apple of the colder regions..." Used in page_block:0.90
3p24description_snippetSaid by F.P. Sharp to be sometimes erroneously called Early Red Bird.Crimson Beauty P.F. Sharp, Woodstock, NJ (c. 1880) Fruit of medium size, greenish, fair quality, early, drops easily and becomes mealy. Poor keeper. Manchester notes "Early summer apple of the colder regions..." Used in page_block:0.90
3p24anecdote_snippetUsed in the States as Heyer #12 is used on the Prairies.Crimson Beauty P.F. Sharp, Woodstock, NJ (c. 1880) Fruit of medium size, greenish, fair quality, early, drops easily and becomes mealy. Poor keeper. Manchester notes "Early summer apple of the colder regions..." Used in page_block:0.90
3p24recommendation_contextManchester notes it as an early summer apple of colder regions and a red-skinned substitute for Yellow Transparent, though not nearly as hardy.Crimson Beauty P.F. Sharp, Woodstock, NJ (c. 1880) Fruit of medium size, greenish, fair quality, early, drops easily and becomes mealy. Poor keeper. Manchester notes "Early summer apple of the colder regions..." Used in page_block:0.90
3p24keeping_qualityPoor keeper.Crimson Beauty P.F. Sharp, Woodstock, NJ (c. 1880) Fruit of medium size, greenish, fair quality, early, drops easily and becomes mealy. Poor keeper. Manchester notes "Early summer apple of the colder regions..." Used in page_block:0.90
3p24description_snippetEarly ripening, drops easily, becomes mealy, and is a poor keeper.Crimson Beauty P.F. Sharp, Woodstock, NJ (c. 1880) Fruit of medium size, greenish, fair quality, early, drops easily and becomes mealy. Poor keeper. Manchester notes "Early summer apple of the colder regions..." Used in page_block:0.90
3p24flavor_profileFruit described as fair quality.Crimson Beauty P.F. Sharp, Woodstock, NJ (c. 1880) Fruit of medium size, greenish, fair quality, early, drops easily and becomes mealy. Poor keeper. Manchester notes "Early summer apple of the colder regions..." Used in page_block:0.90
3p24fruit_colorFruit greenish.Crimson Beauty P.F. Sharp, Woodstock, NJ (c. 1880) Fruit of medium size, greenish, fair quality, early, drops easily and becomes mealy. Poor keeper. Manchester notes "Early summer apple of the colder regions..." Used in page_block:0.90
3p24fruit_sizeFruit described as medium size.Crimson Beauty P.F. Sharp, Woodstock, NJ (c. 1880) Fruit of medium size, greenish, fair quality, early, drops easily and becomes mealy. Poor keeper. Manchester notes "Early summer apple of the colder regions..." Used in page_block:0.90
3p24breeder_referenceAssociated with P.F. Sharp, Woodstock, New Jersey, circa 1880.Crimson Beauty P.F. Sharp, Woodstock, NJ (c. 1880) Fruit of medium size, greenish, fair quality, early, drops easily and becomes mealy. Poor keeper. Manchester notes "Early summer apple of the colder regions..." Used in page_block:0.90

Nursery Offering Timeline

YearNurseryCatalog IssueRelation
No catalog issue offerings linked.

Linked Entities

RelationTypeIDLabel
cross_parentcultivar246Red Melba

Evidence Claims

TypeClaimConfidence
entry_hardiness_observationHardiness rated borderline hardy (H3).0.96
description_snippetFB1 is recorded with the entry as a fireblight-susceptibility code.0.74
entry_hardiness_observationRated H3, meaning borderline hardy.0.94
description_snippetSaid by F.P. Sharp to be sometimes erroneously called Early Red Bird.0.90
anecdote_snippetUsed in the States as Heyer #12 is used on the Prairies.0.90
recommendation_contextManchester notes it as an early summer apple of colder regions and a red-skinned substitute for Yellow Transparent, though not nearly as hardy.0.92
keeping_qualityPoor keeper.0.96
description_snippetEarly ripening, drops easily, becomes mealy, and is a poor keeper.0.95
flavor_profileFruit described as fair quality.0.88
fruit_colorFruit greenish.0.89
fruit_sizeFruit described as medium size.0.93
breeder_referenceAssociated with P.F. Sharp, Woodstock, New Jersey, circa 1880.0.88
breeding_crossCrimson Beauty x Red Melba0.65

History Events

IDTypeYearLabel
577cross_event1964Crimson Beauty x Red Melba