Spartan apple identification
Spartan has the classic maroon skin and bright white flesh of a “Mac” style apple. The flesh is bright white and glistens with juice. The flavour is essentially sweet but has a distinctive wine-like note. Best eaten in season – up to Christmas – because the vinous-flavor fades in storage. Useful for juicing as well. Parentage: McIntosh x Newtown Pippin (?). Introduced / discovered in 1926.
Identification
- Flesh colour - White
- Fruit size - Small
- Fruit size - Medium
- Fruit shape - Flat-round
- Fruit shape - Short-round-conical
- Fruit shape - Round
- Fruit shape - Round-conical
- Fruit shape - Conical
- Shape features - Anglular (flat-sided)
- Shape features - Regular, round
- Shape features - Ribbed
- Shape features - Slightly, broadly, obscurely ribbed
- Shape features (vertical view) - Lop-sided, unequal sides, irregular
- Shape features (vertical view) - Ribs more pronounced at apex, toward basin
- Shape features (vertical view) - Tapering toward calyx end or apex
- Shape uniformity - Uniform in shape, Variable in size
- Shape uniformity - Uniform, in size and shape
- Bultitude apple group - 6. Red flushed, smooth, sweet
- Seeds - size - Medium
- Core - Abaxile / Irregular
- Core - Axile / Symmetrical
- Core - Open
- Seeds - point - Acute
- Seeds - characteristics - Abortive
- Seeds - characteristics - Dark
- Seeds - characteristics - Plump
- Core - carpels - Hollow cylinder at center
- Core - lines - Narrow
- Core - lines meeting - Base of calyx tube
- Core - lines meeting - Sides of calyx tube
- Calyx / Sepals- Opening - Small
- Calyx / Sepals - Size - Short
- Calyx / Sepals - Width - Narrow
- Calyx Tube - Shape - Conic
- Calyx Tube - Length - Long
- Calyx Tube - Length - Medium
- Calyx Tube - Size - Medium
- Calyx Tube - Size - Small
- Calyx Tube - Stamen - Median
- Calyx / Sepals - Description - Pubescent
- Calyx / Sepals - Description - Green with brown tips
- Calyx / Sepals - Description - Closed
- Calyx / Sepals - Description - Partially Open
- Calyx / Sepals - Description - Erect
- Calyx / Sepals - Description - Reflexed
- Russet - Present
- Russet % coverage - Low
- Russet % coverage - Absent
- Russet details - Capillary lines, Netting, Veins, Webbing
- Russet details - Radiating, stellate, rays, stripes
- Russet details - Dots, Patches, Spots
- Russet details - In stem cavity
- All green or yellow - Other colors present
- Skin color (when ripe) - White to Greenish to Green
- Skin color (when ripe) - Red
- Skin color (when ripe) - Yellow (+/or) Green with some Red (+/or) Pink
- Skin color (when ripe) - Red (+/or) Purple to nearly Black
- Skin color (when ripe) - Bluish cast on top of color
- Skin blush - Present
- Skin blush (color) - Red to Deep Red into Dark Purple
- Scarf skin - Not present
- Suture lines - Not present
- Bloom - Present
- Bloom qualities - Pale lavender colour
- Skin waxy or greasy - No waxiness or greasiness present
- Skin feel - Smooth
- Stripes - Stripes present
- Stripes - No stripes
- Stripes (details) - Short splashes
- Stripes (details) - Lined stripes
- Stripes (details) - Mixed stripes, colors
- Stripes (details) - Washed - faded
- Stripes (color) - Dark Red
- Stripes (color) - Crimson to Purplish
- Stripes (color) - Mixed colors
- Stripes (color) - Pink
- Stripes (color) - Red
- Stem (length) - Variable
- Stem (length) - Short
- Stem (length) - Medium
- Stem (length) - Long
- Stem (thickness) - Variable
- Stem (thickness) - Slender
- Stem (thickness) - Medium
- Stem (thickness) - Thick
- Stem cavity (russet) - Gray to Brown Russet
- Stem cavity (russet) - Little, light russet
- Stem cavity (russet) - Ochre or Green Russet
- Stem cavity (russet) - Russet rays extening out from stem cavity
- Stem (position) - Slightly Oblique
- Stem (position) - Upright
- Stem (details) - Knobby, Clubbed
- Stem (color) - Brown
- Stem (color) - Red
- Stem (color) - Green
- Stem Cavity (protruberances) - Compressed
- Stem Cavity (protruberances) - Furrows, Corrugated
- Stem Cavity (side view depth) - Medium
- Stem Cavity (side view depth) - Deep
- Stem Cavity (skin features) - Brown
- Stem Cavity (skin features) - Concentric Lines of Russet
- Stem Cavity (skin features) - Flat
- Stem Cavity (skin features) - Green
- Stem Cavity (skin features) - Lipped - fold of skin over stem end
- Stem Cavity (skin features) - Red
- Stem Cavity (skin features) - Russet
- Stem Cavity (skin features) - Scarf, Pale Coating
- Stem Cavity (skin features) - Silvery Gray
- Stem Cavity (skin features) - Yellow
- Stem Cavity (slope to stem) - Cone-shaped slope to stem
- Stem Cavity (slope to stem) - Steep, Acuminate slope
- Stem Cavity (slope to stem) - Acute, Medium Slope
- Stem Cavity (top view orientation) - Oblique - slanted to one side
- Stem Cavity (top view orientation) - Symmetrical
- Stem Cavity (top view width) - Moderate, Medium width
- Stem Cavity (top view width) - Narrow
- Basin skin - Red
- Basin skin - Shiny, Smooth
- Basin skin - Pubescent, Downy
- Basin skin - Bloom, Scarf, Waxy, Dusty
- Basin skin - Green
- Basin width - Moderate
- Basin russet - Little, light russet
- Basin russet - Usually Russet free
- Basin (top view) - Uneven, Oblique, Slanted
- Basin (top view) - Symmetrical, Round
- Basin (side view slope to eye) - Tight, Acuminate
- Basin (side view slope to eye) - Tight to medium slope
- Basin (side view slope to eye) - Acute, Regular, Medium slope
- Basin (side view slope to eye) - Obtuse, gradual slope to eye
- Basin (side view slope to eye) - Variable
- Basin (side view depth) - Shallow
- Basin (side view depth) - Medium depth
- Basin (protruberances) - Beaded, Mammiform
- Basin (protruberances) - Ridged, Ribbed
- Basin (protruberances) - Undulate, Furrowed, Wavy, Puckered
- Basal lobes - Present, Crowned, or 5-lobed
- Basal lobes - Slightly present
- Dots (description) - Gray
- Dots (description) - Russet
- Dots (description) - White
- Dots (numbers) - Moderate
- Dots (numbers) - Numerous
- Dots (size) - Small
- Dots (skin lenticels) - Inconspicuous, not prominent
- Dots (spread) - Enter the stem cavity
- Dots (spread) - From Basin lessening toward Cavity
- Flesh (staining) - Red or Pink
- Flesh (staining) - Not present
- Flesh (texture) - Crisp, Breaking into chuncks
- Flesh (texture) - Firm, Hard
- Flesh (grain) - Fine
- Flesh (juiciness) - Juicy or Very Juicy
Using
- Uses - Eat fresh
- Uses - Juice
- Uses - Drying
- Flavour quality - Good
- Flavour style - Aromatic
- Flavour style - Sweet/Sharp
- Flavour style - Vinous
- Flavour style - Honeyed / Scented
- Flavour style - Sweeter
- Flavour style - Strawberry / raspberry
- Harvest period - Late season
- Only sweet flavor - Tart, sub-acid, or bitter flavor detected
Growing
- Flowering group - 3
- Fruit bearing - Spur-bearer
- First planted - Before 1950
References
- 'Fruit Expert' by Hessayon
- Spartan - tasting notes, history, and pedigree on OrangePippin.com