Cultivar 5: Tolmo

Tolmo is a hardy standard apple introduced by the South Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station in 1932. It was raised as a seedling of Tolman Sweet and top grafted on Duchess of Oldenburg. Its name was formed from those parent names. It was first introduced as Otto, but that name was dropped because it had already been used for a Canadian seedling. [S1]

Sources describe Tolmo as a good sized fall apple. The 1932 bulletin gives it as about 2 3/4 inches in diameter, and 1944 notes give it as about 3 by 2.5 inches. It has Duchess like coloring, white flesh, a pleasant subacid flavor, very good quality, and a notably fragrant character. [S1] [S2]

It appears to have been valued as a quality dessert or household apple, not just as a breeding curiosity. The 1932 description calls it a strong grower and a heavy bearer, which suggests a productive tree with good vigor. [S1]

The strongest geographic context is its place in N. E. Hansen's South Dakota introduction program for the Northwest and northern plains. The supplied sources do not give a direct zone rating or a specific winter survival statement for Tolmo itself. [S1]

Tolmo also has a small naming story that helps place it in Hansen's introduction work. Its name preserves both Tolman Sweet and Duchess of Oldenburg in condensed form and marks the correction of its earlier canceled name, Otto. [S1]

Summary source basis

• S1: New Hardy Fruits for the Northwest
• S2: Northern Plant Novelties for 1945

This summary currently draws chiefly from New Hardy Fruits for the Northwest, with 1 additional supporting sources linked below.

Featured source descriptions

“Introduced as Otto, but this name is now cancelled because the name had already been used for a Canadian seedling.”
— ^[1]

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

“The page visually presents Tolmo as both a whole fruit and a cut section.”
— ^[1]

“Tolmo is condensed from the names of the parent varieties.”
— ^[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

• Introduced as Otto, but this name is now cancelled because the name had already been used for a Canadian seedlingNew Hardy Fruits for the Northwest, p6
• Fruit good size, 2 % inches in diameter; Duchess colorin�, with white flesh, pleasant subacid; quality very goodNew Hardy Fruits for the Northwest, p6
• Aseedling of Tolman Sweet topgrafted on Duchess of Oldenburg appleNew Hardy Fruits for the Northwest, p6
• Tolmo is condensed from the names of the parent varietiesNew Hardy Fruits for the Northwest, p6

Taxonomy context: No family-tree context surfaced yet.

Related cultivars mentioned in source context