Hollow Crown

Origin / History

An old New England apple of unknown origin. The variety was commonly grown in New England. It appears in A.J. Downing's The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1900), where it is listed under the synonyms Hartford, Tyler, and Kelsey. Thomas (1903) cites Downing as his source. A specimen was received by the USDA ARS from J. G. Case, Loden, N.Y., in 1939, and was subsequently reported by the Agricultural Experiment Station, Department of Pomology, Geneva, New York (NyG).

Tree

Tree a strong, upright grower. (Downing)

Bark, twigs, lenticels, buds, and leaves not described in source.

Fruit

Size and Form

Downing (1900) describes the fruit as large, roundish, slightly conic. Thomas (1903) describes it as medium in size, oblong, oval, and flattened at the crown. The USDA ARS survey (Fisher, 1963) describes the fruit as small. These three sources thus conflict on size (large / medium / small) and on form (roundish, slightly conic / oblong, oval, flattened at crown); all characterizations are recorded here as received.

Stem

Stalk short. (Thomas)

Cavity

Stalk set in a moderate cavity. (Thomas)

Calyx

Calyx closed. (Thomas)

Basin

Basin broad. (Thomas)

Skin

Downing: yellow, splashed, striped, and marbled with red, thinly sprinkled with light dots.

Thomas: skin yellow, striped and splashed with red.

Fisher (1963): fruit light green. (Conflicts with Downing and Thomas on ground color; no red markings mentioned.)

Flesh / Flavor

Downing: flesh yellowish, somewhat coarse, crisp, tender, juicy, pleasant, brisk subacid. Rated Good.

Thomas: flesh yellowish, with a sprightly excellent flavor.

Fisher (1963): flesh soft, nearly white, subacid, poor. (Conflicts with Downing and Thomas on color, texture, and quality rating.)

Core / Seeds

Not described in source.

Season

Downing: November–December.

Thomas: October–January.

Fisher (1963): late October.

Uses

Valuable for cooking or market. (Downing)

Subtypes / Variants

Not described in source.

Other

The substantial disagreements between Fisher's 1963 USDA ARS accession (small fruit, light green skin, soft and nearly white flesh, poor quality, late October) and the earlier pomological descriptions by Downing and Thomas (medium to large fruit, yellow skin with red markings, yellowish flesh, crisp, juicy, subacid to sprightly, good to excellent quality, October–January) raise the possibility that the specimen received from J. G. Case, Loden, N.Y., in 1939 and grown at Geneva, N.Y., may not have been true to the variety as historically described. Both accounts are preserved here in full as received.