Cultivar 330: Yellow Beauty

Yellow Beauty is a yellow prairie apple from the University of Saskatchewan. It was listed in 1960 and described as a cross of Columbia x Wealthy, though one later source gives the first parent as Columbus. [S1] [S2] [S4] It was introduced as selection A58-5 and was part of the university's early effort to develop useful apples under Saskatoon field conditions without irrigation. [S4]

The source record is brief. Patterson's 1960 introduction list names Yellow Beauty as a University of Saskatchewan release, and later prairie indexes keep the same 1960 date and university attribution. [S1] [S2] [S4] Sources disagree on whether the first parent was Columbia or Columbus. [S1] [S2] [S4]

The fruit is described as yellow and up to about 5 cm, or about 2 inches by 1 3/4 inches. [S1] [S4] One source says the flavor is pleasing and mildly sub-acid and rates quality as good. [S4] Another says overall evaluation varied, but yield was good. [S1] Taken together, these notes point to a small to medium apple valued more for reliable production than for standout dessert quality. [S1] [S4]

Yellow Beauty is listed as mid-season to late season. [S4] The sources here do not give fuller storage details, but the 1960 description does record it as a good-quality fruit in the original Saskatoon trials. [S4]

The sources here do not describe tree habit, disease response, or pruning behavior. Yield is the clearest performance note: one later prairie reference says productivity is good even though overall evaluation varied. [S1]

Hardiness is implied rather than stated. Yellow Beauty came from the University of Saskatchewan breeding program and was described under unirrigated Saskatoon field conditions, which places it in prairie testing conditions, but these sources do not give an explicit hardiness zone. [S2] [S4] A 1976 Saskatchewan recommendation context also grouped Yellow Beauty among apples said to lack size or quality, which helps explain why it remained in regional records without becoming a major recommendation. [S3]

Yellow Beauty matters mainly as part of the University of Saskatchewan's early cold climate apple work: a named Wealthy-derived cross preserved in prairie cultivar lists, with enough surviving detail to show its breeding purpose, season, flavor type, and productive habit. [S1] [S2] [S4]

Summary source basis

• S1: Edible Apples in Prairie Canada
• S2: An index of fruit cultivars tested or developed on the Canadian prairies.
• S3: hortfacts_1976_3.pdf
• S4: University of Saskatchewan fruit introductions 1959-1960

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

Featured source descriptions

“Evaluation varies, but yield is good.”
— ^[1]

“Lacks size and/or quality compared with other varieties.”
— ^[4]

Direct parent cultivars

• No direct linked parent cultivars promoted yet.

Parentage claim text

• Columbus x Wealthy.
• 'Columbia' x 'Wealthy'.
• Parentage: Columbia x Wealthy.
• Given as Columbus x Wealthy.

Derived or downstream cultivar links

• No derived or downstream lineage links yet.

Source-story quotations

• Yellow Beauty (Columbus x Wealthy) Patterson (1960) Fruit to 5cm, yellow. Evaluation varies, but yield is good. H1.Edible Apples in Prairie Canada, p74
• Yellow Beauty (Columbus x Wealthy) Patterson (1960) Fruit to 5cm, yellow. Evaluation varies, but yield is good. H1.Edible Apples in Prairie Canada, p74
• Yellow Beauty (Columbus x Wealthy) Patterson (1960) Fruit to 5cm, yellow. Evaluation varies, but yield is good. H1.Edible Apples in Prairie Canada, p74
• Yellow Beauty (Columbus x Wealthy) Patterson (1960) Fruit to 5cm, yellow. Evaluation varies, but yield is good. H1.Edible Apples in Prairie Canada, p74

Taxonomy context: No family-tree context surfaced yet.

Related cultivars mentioned in source context