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Duncan

Apple

Duncan

Origin / History

Received for testing at the Station from B. Buckman, Farmingdale, Ill. Disseminated to some extent in portions of the Ohio valley (Bailey, Annals of Horticulture, 1892). Whether it is identical with the variety of this name in the Catalogue of the Horticultural Society of London, 1831, and in Downing (1872) was not determined by Beach.

Beach places Duncan in the Newtown Spitzenburg class, closely resembling that variety in the appearance and quality of its fruit. When well developed it is rather attractive in color and very good in quality for dessert use. Beach does not recommend it for planting in New York, as grown at the Station it averages too small for a good commercial apple.

Tree

Tree small, moderately vigorous; branches short, stout, crooked; laterals willowy and small, slender. Form upright spreading to roundish, dense. Twigs short to above medium, rather slender, straight, moderately stout; internodes short. Bark dull reddish-brown, mingled with olive-green, with thin coat of scarf-skin; slightly pubescent. Lenticels scattering, small, round, not raised. Buds small, plump, obtuse, appressed, deeply set in bark; somewhat pubescent.

Comes into bearing young and is almost an annual bearer, but yields heavier crops in alternate years (Beach).

Fruit

Size: Below medium or small, pretty uniform in size and shape (Beach). Downing, quoting Hogg, gives medium.

Form: Roundish, pretty symmetrical, sides sometimes unequal (Beach). Downing, quoting Hogg: roundish oblate conical, ribbed.

Stem: Medium.

Cavity: Acuminate to acute, symmetrical, moderately deep, sometimes furrowed, rarely russeted.

Calyx: Closed or partly open; lobes long, acute. Calyx tube short to long, moderately wide, cone-shaped or somewhat funnelform. Stamens median to marginal.

Basin: Obtuse, shallow, irregularly furrowed and wrinkled.

Skin: Green or pale yellow, striped with carmine over a thin dull blush. Often the color is not well developed and not particularly attractive; when well developed, rather attractive (Beach). Downing, quoting Hogg: yellow, with rich deep red in the sun.

Dots: Large, irregular, whitish, conspicuous.

Flesh and flavor: Whitish with yellow tinge, moderately firm, fine-grained, tender, crisp, very juicy. Flavor agreeable mild subacid mingled with sweet; "good to very good when well grown", and "very good in quality for dessert use" (Beach). Downing, quoting Hogg: flesh yellowish white, crisp, juicy, pleasantly acid.

Core and seeds: Core medium, axile or somewhat abaxile; core lines meeting or clasping; cells sometimes unsymmetrical, closed or partly open. Carpels broad, roundish, smooth, emarginate. Seeds medium or below, broad, dark, acute to obtuse.

Season

January to May (Beach), an excellent keeper. Downing, quoting Hogg, gives November to January.

Uses

Dessert, very good in quality. Too small as grown at the Station for a good commercial apple.

Subtypes / Variants

Not described in source.

Other

Not described in source.

Book Sources

Described in 2 period pomological works

Nursery Catalog Sources

Found in 3 catalogs (1900–1913) from Illinois

View original book sources (2)

Duncan.

Fruit medium, roundish oblate conical, ribbed, yellow, with rich deep red in the sun. Flesh yellowish white, crisp, juicy, pleasantly acid. November to January. (Hogg.)

— A.J. Downing, The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1900)

DUNCAN.

REFERENCES. 1. Cat. Hort. Soc. London, 1831. 2. Downing, 1872:151. 3. Bailey, An. Hort., 1892:238. 4. Beach and Clark, N. Y. Sta. Bul., 248:117. 1904.

An apple of the Newtown Spitzenburg class which closely resembles that variety in the appearance and quality of its fruit. When well developed it is rather attractive in color and very good in quality for dessert use. It is an excellent keeper, but as grown at this Station it averages too small for a good commercial apple. The tree comes into bearing young and is almost an annual bearer, but yields heavier crops in alternate years. It is not recommended for planting in New York.

Historical. Received for testing here from B. Buckman, Farmingdale, Ill. It has been disseminated to some extent in portions of the Ohio valley (3). We have not determined whether or not it is identical with the English variety of this name (1, 2).

TREE.

Tree small, moderately vigorous; branches short, stout, crooked; laterals willowy and small, slender. Form upright spreading to roundish, dense. Twigs short to above medium, rather slender, straight, moderately stout; internodes short. Bark dull reddish-brown, mingled with olive-green, with thin coat of scarf-skin; slightly pubescent. Lenticels scattering, small, round, not raised. Buds small, plump, obtuse, appressed, deeply set in bark; somewhat pubescent.

FRUIT.

Fruit below medium or small, pretty uniform in size and shape. Form roundish, pretty symmetrical, sides sometimes unequal. Stem medium. Cavity acuminate to acute, symmetrical, moderately deep, sometimes furrowed, rarely russeted. Calyx closed or partly open; lobes long, acute. Basin obtuse, shallow, irregularly furrowed and wrinkled.

Skin green or pale yellow, striped with carmine over a thin dull blush and conspicuously marked with large, irregular, whitish dots. Often the color is not well developed and not particularly attractive.

Calyx tube short to long, moderately wide, cone-shape or somewhat funnelform. Stamens median to marginal.

Core medium, axile or somewhat abaxile; core lines meeting or clasping; cells sometimes unsymmetrical, closed or partly open. Carpels broad, roundish, smooth, emarginate. Seeds medium or below, broad, dark, acute to obtuse.

Flesh whitish, with yellow tinge, moderately firm, fine-grained, tender, crisp, very juicy, agreeable mild subacid mingled with sweet, good to very good when well grown.

Season January to May.

— S.A. Beach, The Apples of New York, Vol. 1 (1905)