Cultivar 255: Brookland

Brookland is a prairie apple cultivar for dessert use and cooking. It came from the cross Heyer 12 x Haralson.[S2] [S4] It was introduced through the Alberta Horticultural Research Centre at Brooks, Alberta. Sources also connect its origin and release work to the Morden Research Station and the Prairie Fruit Breeding Cooperative.[S2] [S4] Sources place its release in 1980.[S2] [S4]

Sources split the origin story between breeding work and selection work. One profile says Brookland originated at the Morden Research Station under Dr. C. R. Ure for the Prairie Fruit Breeding Cooperative, was selected at Brooks as 17C-23-33, tested as PF1, and released in 1980.[S4] The cultivar index gives a simpler record: Heyer 12 x Haralson, introduced by the Alberta Horticultural Research Centre, Brooks.[S2] These sources place Brookland within the prairie breeding network linking Morden, Brooks, and cooperative cold climate apple work.[S2] [S4]

The fruit is usually described as small to medium, about 5 to 6 cm across, oblate, and green or greenish with a light red blush and light striping.[S2] [S4] The flesh is white to whitish, or amber in one table. It is somewhat coarse but sweet, with good flavour, and is fairly resistant to browning after cutting.[S2] [S4] Sources describe it as suitable for fresh eating and cooking. One prairie recommendation list also marks it as a keeping apple.[S1] [S4] Storage is usually given as about six weeks.[S4]

The season is slightly mixed in the record. One profile places maturity in late August to early September, while a University of Saskatchewan ripening table lists Brookland at 12 September.[S4] [S5] A prairie recommendation list adds that the fruit stands frost, which helps explain its value in colder districts.[S1] [S4]

The tree is described as moderately vigorous, compact, round to spreading, and productive each year.[S4] Manchester's note says it is best top worked on a hardy rootstock.[S4] The same profile describes Brookland as hardy to zone 2a and resistant to fire blight, while a prairie recommendation list gives it an H2 rating, meaning moderately hardy.[S1] [S4] Another evaluation note is more blunt: there are better apples, but it is hardy in Calgary.[S4]

Brookland also mattered beyond its own fruit. University of Saskatchewan breeding records identify it as one of the most important intermediate parents in that program's advanced selections, with the largest contribution to the genepool alongside Haralson.[S3] In other words, Brookland was not just a released cultivar. It was also a major breeding parent in later prairie apple work.[S3] Separate breeding cross records link it with cultivars such as Honeygold, Macintosh, Pioneer, Lobo, and M359, but those are later breeding uses, not Brookland's own parentage.[S3]

Summary source basis

• S1: Edible Apples in Prairie Canada
• S2: An index of fruit cultivars tested or developed on the Canadian prairies.
• S3: ANCESTRY OF APPLE SELECTIONS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SASKATCHEWAN
• S4: Brookland
• S5: APPLE RIPENING DATES TABLE 2006

This summary currently draws chiefly from Edible Apples in Prairie Canada, with 4 additional supporting sources linked below.

Featured source descriptions

“White flesh fairly resistant to browning.”
— ^[1]

“Fruit stands frosts.”
— ^[1]

“Fruit stands heavy frost.”
— ^[1]

“H2 hardiness rating.”
— ^[1]

Direct parent cultivars

• No direct linked parent cultivars promoted yet.

Parentage claim text

• Parentage given as Heyer #12 x Haralson.
• 'Heyer 12' x 'Haralson'.
• Lineage: Heyer 12 x Haralson.

Derived or downstream cultivar links

• Lobo (lineage link)
• Honeygold (lineage link)
• Macintosh (lineage link)
• Pioneer (lineage link)
• M359 (lineage link)

Source-story quotations

• Brookland (Heyer#12 X Haralson) Brooks (1980) Fruit 5-6cm, green with light red blush.Edible Apples in Prairie Canada, p20
• Brookland (Heyer#12 X Haralson) Brooks (1980) Fruit 5-6cm, green with light red blush.Edible Apples in Prairie Canada, p20
• Brookland (Heyer#12 X Haralson) Brooks (1980) Fruit 5-6cm, green with light red blush.Edible Apples in Prairie Canada, p20
• Brookland (Heyer#12 X Haralson) Brooks (1980) Fruit 5-6cm, green with light red blush.Edible Apples in Prairie Canada, p20

Taxonomy context: No family-tree context surfaced yet.

Related cultivars mentioned in source context