Cultivar 3: Lina

Lina is a hardy standard apple introduced in 1933 in the South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station bulletin series. It is described as a seedling of Malinda, and Hansen says the name came from Malinda itself. The fruit was presented as worth testing where a late yellow apple was wanted. [S1]

The bulletin places Lina in N. E. Hansen's hardy apple introduction program for the northwestern and northern Plains. In that program, it appears as a named seedling, not a later breeding descendant or a simple index reference. The surviving description is brief but clear. Lina was selected from Malinda and kept some of that parent's general appearance, but differed in surface form. [S1]

Sources describe the fruit as about 2 1/2 inches across, somewhat conical and truncated, with blush, juicy flesh, and a mild subacid flavor. Hansen called it remarkable for its perfectly conical shape and for having no corrugations in the basin. He also noted that it had no knobs, unlike Malinda. The flesh was said to cook up easily, which suggests value for cooking as well as fresh use. [S1]

Season and keeping quality are only partly documented. Hansen called it a late yellow apple and reported a good crop in 1939, but the surviving entry does not give a fuller harvest window or storage term. [S1]

The tree itself is not described in detail in the cited source. The clearest horticultural context is its placement among new hardy standard apples for the northern Plains, which supports its identity as a cold climate selection, though the page does not give an explicit hardiness zone. [S1]

Lina matters mainly as a small but distinct part of Hansen's hardy apple work: a Malinda seedling named for its parent and selected for form, cooking quality, and regional testing in the upper Great Plains. The record is thin, but its unusually precise fruit shape makes it memorable. [S1]

Summary source basis

• S1: New Hardy Fruits for the Northwest

This summary currently draws chiefly from New Hardy Fruits for the Northwest.

Featured source descriptions

“Listed in the table of contents under "NEW HARDY STANDARD APPLES" with entry page 5.”
— ^[1]

“Remarkable for its perfectly conical shape with no corrugations in the basin.”
— ^[1]

“Much like it in conical shape with blush, but with no knobs.”
— ^[1]

“The flesh is mild subacid and cooks up easily.”
— ^[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

• Aseedling of Malinda and much like it in conical shape with blush, but with no knobsNew Hardy Fruits for the Northwest, p6
• Remarkable for its perfectly conical shape with no corrugations in the basinNew Hardy Fruits for the Northwest, p6
• Fruit 2Yz across, somewhat conical, truncated, good juicy subacidNew Hardy Fruits for the Northwest, p6
• If a late yellow apple is desired, the Lina should be testedNew Hardy Fruits for the Northwest, p6

Taxonomy context: No family-tree context surfaced yet.

Related cultivars mentioned in source context