Geneva Ontario
Apple
Geneva Ontario
Origin / History
The original tree of Geneva Ontario was found about 1946 in the apple cultivar test orchard at the Geneva Station, according to Einset, Blaser, and Imhofe (70). It is considered to be a bud mutation of Ontario. This first tree was budded on seedling roots. The buds came from a tree of Ontario obtained by the Station from a local nursery in 1910. Other Ontario material obtained in 1947 was not a chimera and had only wholly diploid tissue. Cytological examination by Blaser and Einset (25) found tetraploid cells having 68 chromosomes made up most of the tissue in the shoot apex of Geneva Ontario, and no diploid cell having 34 chromosomes deeper than the surface layer. Thus it was designated as a 2-4-4 or Type 1 periclinal chimera. Before it was named, it was designated as "Ontario Sport" (72). The first tree was found to be a Type 2-4-4 chimera with the epidermal layer diploid and the rest tetraploid.
The original Ontario from which Geneva Ontario sported was bred in Paris, Ontario, Canada. Charles Arnold grew seedlings from the backcross, Northern Spy x Wagener, and one of the seedlings was named Ontario soon after 1874. Ontario was described by Ragan (181).
The name Geneva Ontario was first published by Brooks and Olmo in 1964 (40). It was named for Geneva, New York. Dermen (61) produced a tetraploid form of Ontario by forcing adventitious buds from the 2-4-4 chimera of Ontario. This form is presumed to be tetraploid throughout and differs from Geneva Ontario, which has a chimeral surface layer of diploid tissue.
Tree
The tree is very vigorous, similar to that of Ontario, but it is very much more spreading in growth habit. Trees are not highly productive.
Fruit
Size: Larger than the fruits of Ontario.
Form: More oblate in shape than Ontario.
Stem: Not described in source.
Cavity: Not described in source.
Calyx: Not described in source.
Basin: Not described in source.
Skin: Not described in source.
Dots: Not described in source.
Flesh and flavor: Not described in source.
Core and seeds: Not described in source.
Season
Not described in source.
Uses
Geneva Ontario is of primary interest to fruit breeders because of its chimeral nature. Breeding as a tetraploid, it produces diploid gametes. Because it does not have good commercial features, it is not recommended for planting.
Subtypes / Variants
Not described in source.
Other
Geneva Ontario trees have never been propagated by any nursery. It was never formally introduced for the apple growing industry.
Book Sources
Described in 1 period pomological work
View original book sources (1)
— Roger D. Way, Apple Cultivars Introduced by the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station, 1914–1968 (1971)Geneva Ontario
Origin. According to Einset, Blaser, and Imhofe (70), the original tree of Geneva Ontario was found about 1946 in the apple cultivar test orchard at the Geneva Station. The time and place of its origin are not known. It is considered to be a bud mutation of Ontario. This first tree, which was found to be a Type 2-4-4 chimera with the epidermal layer diploid and the rest tetraploid, had been budded on seedling roots. The buds came from a tree of Ontario obtained by the Station from a local nursery in 1910. Other Ontario material obtained in 1947 was not a chimera and had only wholly diploid tissue. The original Ontario from which Geneva Ontario sported was bred in Paris, Ontario, Canada. Charles Arnold grew seedlings from the backcross, Northern Spy x Wagener, and one of the seedlings was named Ontario soon after 1874. Ontario was described by Ragan (181). Before it was named, the cytological nature of Geneva Ontario was investigated by Blaser and Einset (25). At that time, it was designated as "Ontario Sport" (72). Tetraploid cells having 68 chromosomes made up most of the tissue in the shoot apex of Geneva Ontario. No diploid cell having 34 chromosomes was found deeper than the surface layer. Thus, it was designated as a 2-4-4 or Type 1 periclinal chimera. The name Geneva Ontario was first published by Brooks and Olmo in 1964 (40). It was named for Geneva, New York. Dermen (61) produced a tetraploid form of Ontario by forcing adventitious buds from the 2-4-4 chimera of Ontario. Presumably, this is tetraploid throughout and is different from Geneva Ontario which has a chimeral surface layer of diploid tissue.
Tree. The tree of Geneva Ontario is very vigorous, similar to that of Ontario, except it is very much more spreading in growth habit. The tree characteristics of Geneva Ontario are summarized in Table 5. Trees are not highly productive.
Fruit. The fruits of Geneva Ontario are illustrated in Figure 10. The fruits are larger and more oblate in shape than Ontario. The characteristics of Geneva Ontario fruits are summarized in Table 8.
Commercial Usefulness. Geneva Ontario trees have never been propagated by any nursery. It was never formally introduced for the apple growing industry. Its primary interest is to fruit breeders because of its chimeral nature. Breeding as a tetraploid, it produces diploid gametes. Because Geneva Ontario does not have good commercial features, it is not recommended for planting.