Hunge
Apple
Hunge
Origin / History
Origin uncertain (Elliott, Downing); Budd & Hansen give the origin as North Carolina. Popular and long cultivated in North Carolina (Elliott, Downing, Budd & Hansen). Warder's specimens were supplied by W. S. Carpenter of New York. Warder figures the variety as Fig. 203.
Tree
Vigorous and very productive (Downing, Budd & Hansen). Popular in its native state (Budd & Hansen).
Fruit
Size and Form
Sources differ on size: Warder calls the fruit "above medium," while Downing, Elliott, Thomas, and Budd & Hansen describe it as "large" (Thomas: "rather large"). Roundish (all sources), conic per Warder; somewhat flattened per Budd & Hansen. Unequal (Warder); somewhat irregular and oblique (Thomas, Budd & Hansen).
Stem
Warder: long, slender, green. Thomas: half an inch long. Budd & Hansen: short, slender. (Sources disagree on stem length — Warder describes it as long, Budd & Hansen as short, Thomas as half an inch.)
Cavity
Wide, wavy (Warder, Budd & Hansen); brown (Warder).
Calyx / Eye
Eye medium, closed (Warder). Calyx small, closed, with divergent segments (Budd & Hansen).
Basin
Abrupt, wavy, folded (Warder); rather deep, slightly ribbed (Thomas, Budd & Hansen).
Skin / Surface
Surface smooth (Warder, Thomas, Budd & Hansen). Color reported variably: greenish-yellow (Warder); green with a blush (Downing, Elliott); bright yellow with a faint delicate blush (Thomas); bright greenish yellow with delicate blush (Budd & Hansen).
Dots
Numerous, minute, distinct, whitish, indented (Warder); few, white (Budd & Hansen). (Sources disagree on abundance — Warder says numerous, Budd & Hansen say few.)
Flesh and Flavor
Greenish-yellow (Warder); white (Budd & Hansen); soft (Downing, Elliott). Tender (Warder, Thomas, Budd & Hansen), fine-grained (Warder, Thomas, Budd & Hansen), juicy (Warder, Budd & Hansen). Flavor sub-acid (all sources who note flavor); mild subacid (Budd & Hansen); rich and very agreeable (Warder); pleasant (Downing, Elliott). Quality: "best" per Warder; "good" per Downing and Budd & Hansen; "very good" per Thomas.
Core and Seeds
Core very wide, closed, clasping the eye, with a short axis (Warder); core large, open, clasping (Budd & Hansen). (Warder describes the core as closed; Budd & Hansen as open.) Seeds angular, pale (Warder); many, angular, plump (Budd & Hansen).
Season
September and October (Downing, Elliott, Thomas, Budd & Hansen); October (Warder).
Uses
Table and kitchen (Warder); valuable for drying and culinary uses (Downing).
Subtypes / Variants
Not described in source.
Other
Not described in source.
Book Sources
Described in 5 period pomological works
Nursery Catalog Sources
Found in 2 catalogs (1901–1913) from Illinois
- Benjamin Buckman (personal inventory) , Farmingdale , Illinois — 1901
- Benjamin Buckman (personal inventory) , Farmingdale , Illinois — 1913
View original book sources (5)
— John A. Warder, American Pomology: Apples (1867)Fig. 203.—HUNGE.
Knickerbocker.
Specimens from W. S. Carpenter, New York.
Fruit above medium, roundish, conic, unequal; Surface smooth, greenish-yellow; Dots numerous, minute, distinct, whitish, indented.
Basin abrupt, wavy, folded; Eye medium, closed.
Cavity wide, wavy, brown; Stem long, slender, green.
Core very wide, closed, clasping the eye; Axis short; Seeds angular, pale; Flesh greenish-yellow, tender, fine-grained, juicy; Flavor sub-acid, rich, very agreeable; Quality best; Use, table, kitchen; Season, October.
— A.J. Downing, The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1900)Hunge.
Hunger
Origin uncertain, popular, and long cultivated in North Carolina.
Tree vigorous and very productive.
Fruit large, roundish, green, with a blush. Flesh soft, subacid, pleasant, valuable for drying and culinary uses. Good. September, October.
— F.R. Elliott, The Western Fruit Book (1865)HUNGE. Hunger. Origin, uncertain. Popular, and long cultivated in North Carolina. Fruit, large, roundish; skin, green, with a blush; flesh, soft, sub-acid, pleasant. September, October.
— John J. Thomas, The American Fruit Culturist (1903)Hunge. Rather large, roundish, somewhat irregular and oblique; skin smooth, bright yellow, with a faint delicate blush; stem half an inch long; basin rather deep, slightly ribbed; flesh fine-grained, tender, sub-acid, "very good." Cultivated in North Carolina. September and October.
— J.L. Budd & N.E. Hansen, American Horticultural Manual, Part II: Systematic Pomology (1914)Hunge.—Origin, North Carolina; tree vigorous, very productive; popular in its native state.
Fruit large, roundish, somewhat flattened, irregular and oblique; surface smooth, bright greenish yellow, with delicate blush; dots few, white; cavity wide, wavy; stem short, slender; basin abrupt, rather deep, slightly ribbed; calyx small, closed; segments divergent. Core large, open, clasping; seeds many, angular, plump; flesh white, fine-grained, tender, juicy, mild subacid, good. September, October.