Cultivar 503: Alexander

Alexander is a very large old apple, usually classed as both a dessert and cooking apple, and also known as Emperor Alexander. Sources place it in the Russian Aport group and describe it as one of the largest apples, with showy fruit that made it memorable wherever it was grown. [S1] [S2] [S3]

Its recorded history points east. One source says it was introduced into England from Russia in 1817 and later passed from England to America at an unknown date. A prairie directory gives its origin as Ukrainian, with some uncertainty, and says it was already known in the 1700s. [S1] [S2] The Russian and Ukrainian accounts are not necessarily incompatible, but the exact place of origin remains unsettled. [S1] [S2]

The fruit is described as very large, regular, and conical. An older pomological description gives it a greenish yellow ground color, faint red on the shaded side, and bright crimson stripes and splashes on the sunny side, making it a notably showy apple. A prairie source gives a smaller measurement of about 5.5 cm and describes it as pale yellow, flushed and mottled bright scarlet. The flesh is white to yellowish white, crisp, tender, juicy, and pleasantly flavored. [S2] [S3]

Alexander was used as both a fresh and kitchen apple. Sources support both uses, and its large size likely helped explain its long popularity. One early bulletin gives the season as October to December, but a prairie source warns that the fruit becomes very greasy in storage. [S2] [S3]

The tree was described as vigorous, spreading, and productive. [S3] Hardiness is only indirect in this packet, but Alexander clearly circulated widely in northern and prairie reference literature and remained important enough to stay in cold region directories long after its introduction. [S2] [S3]

Alexander also matters as a parent in apple history. Multiple sources state that Wolf River of Wisconsin was considered a seedling of Alexander, and one bulletin says that in the West, Wolf River had largely supplanted it. This places Alexander in the background of later large northern apples, even as the older cultivar itself fell out of favor. [S1] [S3]

Summary source basis

• S1: New Hardy Fruits for the Northwest
• S2: Edible Apples in Prairie Canada
• S3: A Study of Northwestern Apples

This summary currently draws chiefly from A Study of Northwestern Apples, with 2 additional supporting sources linked below.

Featured source descriptions

“The huge Wolf River from Wisconsin is said to be no doubt a seedling of the Alexander.”
— ^[3]

“Origin is given as Ukrainian, with uncertainty.”
— ^[1]

“References cited are BHB and Smithfield.”
— ^[1]

“Known in the 1700s.”
— ^[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

• Alexander-Of Russian origin; tree vigorous, spreading, productive. In the west it is now largely supplanted by its Wisconsin seedling the Wolf River-Fruit very large, regular, conic al; surface greenish yellow, faintly streaked with red on shaded side, but orange on the sunny side almost wholly covered with bright crimA Study of Northwestern Apples, p23
• Alexander-Of Russian origin; tree vigorous, spreading, productive. In the west it is now largely supplanted by its Wisconsin seedling the Wolf River-Fruit very large, regular, conic al; surface greenish yellow, faintly streaked with red on shaded side, but orange on the sunny side almost wholly covered with bright crimA Study of Northwestern Apples, p23
• Alexander-Of Russian origin; tree vigorous, spreading, productive. In the west it is now largely supplanted by its Wisconsin seedling the Wolf River-Fruit very large, regular, conic al; surface greenish yellow, faintly streaked with red on shaded side, but orange on the sunny side almost wholly covered with bright crimA Study of Northwestern Apples, p23
• Alexander-Of Russian origin; tree vigorous, spreading, productive. In the west it is now largely supplanted by its Wisconsin seedling the Wolf River-Fruit very large, regular, conic al; surface greenish yellow, faintly streaked with red on shaded side, but orange on the sunny side almost wholly covered with bright crimA Study of Northwestern Apples, p23

Taxonomy context: No family-tree context surfaced yet.

Related cultivars mentioned in source context