Cortland is a cultivar of
apple
An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...
developed at the
New York State Agricultural Experiment Station The New York State Agricultural Experiment Station (NYSAES) at Geneva, Ontario County, New York State, is an agricultural experiment station operated by the New York State College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University. In August 2 ...
in
Geneva, New York
Geneva is a City (New York), city in Ontario County, New York, Ontario and Seneca County, New York, Seneca counties in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is at the northern end of Seneca Lake (New York), Seneca Lake; all land port ...
,
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
in 1898. It is a cross of the McIntosh and Ben Davis apples. It was named after
Cortland County, near
Ithaca, New York, home of
Cornell University
Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...
.
It is among the fifteen most popular in the United States and Canada.
Characteristics
After the many attributes of
McIntosh were discovered, plant breeders began crossing it with other varieties to enhance its traits. One of the earliest was the Cortland. The Cortland is capable of high yield in cold climates.
In the United States, it is most commonly grown in New York.
The Cortland apple is flattened and irregular apple. Its skin is greenish yellow and deep red. Compared to the McIntosh, the Cortland is a sweet apple. It has white and juicy flesh, with a somewhat coarse texture.
It is resistant to browning and is therefore suitable for
fruit salads
Fruit salad is a dish consisting of various kinds of fruit, sometimes served in a liquid, either their juices or a syrup. In different forms, fruit salad can be served as an appetizer or a side as a salad. A fruit salad is sometimes known as a ...
and
charcuterie boards.
It was first bred by American horticulturalist
S.A Beach.
Patented mutants (sports)
The original Cortland variety, introduced in 1915 by the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, produced apples which were 20–30% red, and was not patented.
Since then, several sports have been identified and patented:
Descendant cultivars
*
Birgit Bonnier
See also
*
Empire (apple)
Empire is a clonally propagated cultivar of apple derived from a seed grown in 1945 by Lester C. Anderson, a Cornell University fruit nutritionist who conducted open pollination research on his various orchards.
In 1945, under the direction of ...
Footnotes
Cortland
American apples
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