Taxon ID: 1
Usage Facet: class=edible; edible_score=1.0; ornamental_score=0.0; inferred_from_taxon=yes
Relationships: 4 | Linked Entities (visible): 4 | Evidence claims: 2 | History events: 1 | Catalog issue offerings: 0
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Evidence Badge: emerging | claims=2 | sources=1 | contradictions=0
Claim Types: breeding_cross:1, description_snippet:1 | Open evidence summary JSON | Open citation drawer JSON
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Mercer Wild Crab, called Mercer Crab in the source, was a hardy American wild crab used in northern apple breeding and evaluation. In the South Dakota Experiment Station bulletin, it appears most clearly as the wild crab parent of the Nebo apple, listed as Alexander apple x Mercer wild crab. [S1]
The bulletin places Mercer in a broader group of large fruited American wild crabs commonly classified as Pyrus Soulardii and regarded by botanists as natural hybrids of Pyrus ioensis and Pyrus malus. This gives Mercer importance beyond a single mention. It was part of the early effort to combine wild crab hardiness with larger and better dessert or kitchen fruit for the Northwest. [S1]
This source excerpt does not give a full fruit description for Mercer itself. The page uses it mainly as a breeding reference point, not as a fully described cultivar entry. Even so, the bulletin treats Mercer as important enough to name alongside Forest King and Missouri Giant in a recommended collection, which suggests it was valued as a notable hardy crab in its own right. [S1]
Hardiness is implied by context rather than stated directly. Mercer appears in a bulletin devoted to new hardy fruits for the Northwest and in breeding work focused on northern regions, but this packet does not give a zone rating or a direct winter survival statement for Mercer itself. [S1]
Its clearest documented legacy here is its lineage. Mercer contributed directly to Nebo, and the surrounding discussion shows why that mattered. Breeders were trying to produce larger, more useful fruit while keeping the toughness associated with American wild crab material. [S1]
Summary source basis
This summary currently draws chiefly from Northern Plant Novelties for 1945.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | Northern Plant Novelties for 1945 | unknown | 2 | 1 | 1 | n/a | Pedigree: Mercer wild crab x Tolman Sweet apple pollen.; Mercer wild crab x Tolman Sweet; relationship: cross_parent; history: Mercer wild crab x Tolman Sweet |
| Document | Page | Claim Type | Claim | Quote | Match |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No page-linked quote spans available yet. | |||||
| Year | Nursery | Catalog Issue | Relation |
|---|---|---|---|
| No catalog issue offerings linked. | |||
| Relation | Type | ID | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| cross_parent | cultivar | 210 | Tolman Sweet |
| cross_parent | cultivar | 78 | Alexander Apple |
| cross_parent | cultivar | 40 | Pyrus Baccata Cerasifera |
| cross_parent | cultivar | 31 | Tolman Sweet Apple |
| Type | Claim | Confidence |
|---|---|---|
| description_snippet | Pedigree: Mercer wild crab x Tolman Sweet apple pollen. | 0.54 |
| breeding_cross | Mercer wild crab x Tolman Sweet | 0.65 |
| ID | Type | Year | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 181 | cross_event | 1945 | Mercer wild crab x Tolman Sweet |