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Mother

Apple
USDA watercolor illustration of Mother

USDA Pomological Watercolor Collection

Mother

Origin / History

Mother originated at Bolton, Worcester County, Massachusetts; Elliott gives simply "from Massachusetts." Bunyard alone calls its origin "rather uncertain, but recorded in America before 1848." Beach's references begin with the Magazine of Horticulture of 1844. Thomas described it in the Cultivator in 1848 as "a new, handsome late autumn and early winter apple, of the highest quality," and stated that it originated at Bolton. Hedrick says Mother "was described first in 1848 from Worcester County, Massachusetts." Bunyard notes that so many apples bear the name "Mother" that Hogg distinguished this one by prefixing the country of its origin, as "American Mother."

Downing calls it one of the best of apples for the dessert. Beach calls it "a beautiful red apple of good size, with tender, rich, aromatic flesh of best dessert quality." Hedrick calls it one of the prized apples of old orchards, valued alike for its handsome appearance and its tender, rich, well-flavored flesh, and says it "is very generally grown in all apple regions."

Beach, writing in 1905, reports that it was still listed by some nurserymen but was nowhere being extensively planted, and was seldom found in cultivation in New York. He says it cannot be recommended for general commercial planting but is desirable for the home orchard. It was planted at the Agassiz, British Columbia, experimental farm in spring 1894.

Tree

Tree below medium size (Beach), small (Hedrick), rather slender. Growth moderate to moderately vigorous; Thomas calls it slow, and Beach a rather slow grower. Form upright (Downing), or upright spreading to roundish, rather open (Beach). Twigs long, curved, moderately stout; internodes long. Young shoots grayish brown, downy (Downing). Bark brown, mingled with olive-green, lightly mottled with scarf-skin, slightly pubescent near the tips. Lenticels numerous, rather conspicuous, medium size, oval, raised. Buds rather prominent, medium size, broad, plump, obtuse, free, pubescent (Beach). Leaf rather large, pale, nearly flat, down-hanging, sharply serrate (Bunyard).

Elliott calls the tree hardy. Beach says that in many localities it is rather tender and liable to scald or canker on the trunk and larger branches, and advises topworking it upon Northern Spy or some other hardy, vigorous stock. Hedrick says the trees are seldom satisfactory and should be top-worked on a more vigorous stock to obtain vigor and thrift.

Warder, Downing, and Budd and Hansen call the tree productive. Elliott calls it an annual bearer. Beach says it does not come into bearing very young and commonly is a biennial cropper, yielding moderate to good crops. Bunyard calls its fertility rather irregular.

Fruit

Size: Below medium to large. Most authors give medium, full medium, or above medium; Elliott calls it large and Thomas rather large. Beach gives below medium to above, sometimes large, pretty uniform in size and shape. Bunyard measures it 2½ by 2¼.

Form: Roundish to oblong. Most authors find it slightly conical or tapering to the eye: roundish conic, roundish oblong, roundish ovate, oblong-ovate approaching conical, oval conical, or oblong and tapering to the eye. Beach's range runs from roundish or roundish conic to oblong ovate. Warder calls it oblong and regular, and Lowther round. Slightly or obscurely ribbed, the ribs broad and obtuse.

Stem: Long to short, slender. The majority give medium to long; Thomas measures it three-fourths of an inch long. Downing calls it short and small, and Bunyard rather short. Beach gives it moderately slender to rather thick.

Cavity: Acute or approaching acuminate. Rather shallow to deep, rather narrow to moderately broad. Beach gives rather shallow to moderately deep; Budd and Hansen call it deep. Thomas and Bunyard call the cavity moderate. Often a little russeted. Regular or wavy (Warder); sometimes furrowed, compressed, or lipped (Beach); compressed on one side (Bunyard).

Calyx: Small to very small, closed or nearly closed; Warder calls the eye long. Lobes medium, narrow, acute (Beach). Beach describes the calyx tube as rather long, funnel-form, with wide limb and narrow cylinder, and the stamens as marginal. Budd and Hansen describe the tube as conical, inclining to funnel-shaped, and the stamens as median.

Basin: Small to medium, narrow, plaited or corrugated, regular or plaited (Warder). Beach calls it shallow, a little abrupt, somewhat furrowed and wrinkled. Bunyard calls it small and fairly deep.

Skin: Thin (Beach), smooth. Ground yellow to golden yellow; greenish yellow at Agassiz. Mostly to almost wholly overspread with clear, warm, rich red, deep red to the sun, splashed, marbled, and striped with several deeper shades of dark red, crimson, and carmine. Downing calls the red light, clear, and rich; Thomas a high warm rich red in obscure broken stripes and spots; Beach bright deep red. Warder gives shaded red on yellow, with close, fine stripes of red. Bunyard alone describes a dull brownish-red flush with faint stripes. Lowther gives the color as yellow-red. A handsome, beautiful apple.

Dots: Minute to rather small, light or yellowish, some russet; inconspicuous, pale and submerged (Beach). Elliott and the Agassiz report give few dots; Downing and Budd and Hansen give many or numerous.

Flesh and flavor: Flesh yellow, deeper yellow toward the outside; yellowish (Elliott); yellow or slightly green (Bunyard). Fine to very fine-grained, tender to soft, juicy to moderately juicy; Warder alone calls it crisp. Flavor rich to very rich, aromatic, spicy to very spicy, mild to very mild subacid. Warder calls it "sweet, very rich, vinous, aromatic." Thomas notes "an admixture of sweet." Bunyard calls it very sweet, "of distinct flavour, resembling Peardrops." Veitch gives "rich fine flavour." Beach finds it somewhat lacking in acidity.

Quality "best" by most authors; Elliott places the word in quotation marks. Beach gives very good to best. The Agassiz report and Lowther give very good. Bunyard calls it "a very choice dessert fruit."

Core and seeds: Core medium to rather small, abaxile; turbinate, regular (Warder). Core lines clasping. Warder and Budd and Hansen call the core closed; Beach gives the cells as nearly symmetrical, open or partly open. Budd and Hansen call the cells elliptical. Carpels broadly ovate to roundish, emarginate, mucronate (Beach). Seeds numerous; rather dark, medium or below, plump, acute to acuminate (Beach).

Season

The recorded season runs from late September into February, and to March or later in cold storage. Most authors give a late autumn and early winter apple, October or November through December or January; a few extend it to February. Bunyard gives October to November but says it often keeps good till mid January. Lowther gives winter.

Beach gives late September to January, in its prime in November. In ordinary storage it does not keep well, and November is its safe commercial limit, but in cold storage it may be held till March or later.

Uses

Chiefly a dessert apple. Downing calls it rather too tender for shipment. Beach finds it less desirable for culinary uses, being somewhat lacking in acidity. Lowther gives its use as both kitchen and market.

Subtypes / Variants

Not described in source.

Other

Thomas says Mother somewhat resembles the Esopus Spitzenburg in external appearance, and in its rich yellow flesh and spiciness. Beach calls the resemblance marked, but says Mother ripens earlier and is not so good a keeper. Hedrick judges it not quite so good an apple as Esopus Spitzenburg for either dessert or cookery, falling short in flavor and keeping qualities.

Book Sources

Described in 9 period pomological works

Nursery Catalog Sources

Found in 20 catalogs (1850–1932) from England, Illinois, Massachusetts, Missouri, Washington

View original book sources (11)

Mother.

Queen Anne, of some, incorrectly.

From Massachusetts. Tree, hardy, moderate growth, annual bearer. Fruit, large, roundish ovate ; yellow, mostly overspread, marbled and striped with shades of dark red, few russet dots ; stem, slender ; calyx, small, nearly closed ; basin, plaited ; flesh, yellowish, tender, spicy, sub-acid, "best." October to January.

— F.R. Elliott, The Western Fruit Book (1865)

Mother.

Origin Bolton, Massachusetts. Tree rather slender, but productive.

Fruit medium to full medium, oblong, regular; Surface smooth, shaded red on yellow, with close, fine stripes of red; Dots minute.

Basin medium, regular or plaited; Eye long, small, closed.

Cavity acute, regular or wavy; Stem long, slender.

Core medium, turbinate, regular, closed, clasping; Seeds numerous; Flesh yellow, crisp, very fine-grained, juicy; Flavor sweet, very rich, vinous, aromatic; Quality best; Use, dessert; Season, October to January.

— John A. Warder, American Pomology: Apples (1867)

Mother.

Queen Anne. Gardener's Apple.

Origin, Bolton, Mass. Tree moderately vigorous, upright, and productive. Young shoots grayish brown, downy. One of the best of Apples for the dessert, rather too tender for shipment.

Mother.

Fruit medium. Form roundish, slightly conical. Color yellow, almost entirely overspread with light, clear, rich red, splashed and marbled with many deeper shades, many minute light dots. Stalk short, small. Cavity acute, often a little russeted. Calyx closed. Basin small, corrugated. Flesh yellow, tender, juicy, rich, aromatic subacid. Best. November, February.

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

Mother.* Rather large, oblong-ovate, approaching conical; slightly and obtusely ribbed; color a high warm rich red on yellow ground; deep red to the sun—in obscure broken stripes and spots; stalk three-fourths of an inch long, cavity moderate; basin small, plaited; flesh yellow, more so toward the outside, moderately juicy, rich, very spicy, very mild sub-acid, with an admixture of sweet. Somewhat resembles the Esopus Spitzenburgh in external appearance, and in its rich yellow flesh and spiciness. Growth slow. Fig. 426. Late autumn and early winter. Worcester County, Mass.

— John J. Thomas, The American Fruit Culturist (1903)

MOTHER.

REFERENCES. 1. Mag. Hort., 10:210. 1844. 2. Thomas, Cultivator, 5:306. 1848. fig. 3. Horticulturist, 3:581. 1848. 4. Cole, 1849:115. fig. 5. Hovey, Mag. Hort., 15:65. 1849. fig. 6. Thomas, 1849:169. fig. 7. Waring, 1851:27. 8. Emmons, Nat. Hist. N. Y., 3:58. 1851. 9. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat., 1852. 10. Mag. Hort., 20:241. 1854. 11. Elliott, 1854:147. 12. Downing, 1857:87. 13. Hooper, 1857:62. 14. Gregg, 1857:55. 15. Mag. Hort., 28:281. 1862. 16. Lothrop, Mag. Hort., 32:363. 1866. 17. Warder, 1867:663. fig. 18. Fitz, 1872:141. 19. Barry, 1883:350. 20. Hogg, 1884:7. 21. Lyon, Mich. Hort. Soc. Rpt., 1890:294. 22. Bailey, An. Hort., 1892:245. 23. Bunyard, Jour. Roy. Hort. Soc., 1898:356. 24. Alwood, Va. Sta. Bul., 130:124. 1901. 25. Dickens and Greene, Kan. Sta. Bul., 106:54. 1902. 26. Rural N. Y., 61:829. 1902. figs. 27. Budd-Hansen, 1903:132. figs. 28. Rural N. Y., 62:7, 380. 1903. 29. Bruner, N. C. Sta. Bul., 182:21. 1903. 30. Powell and Fulton, U. S. B. P. I. Bul., 48:50. 1903. 31. Beach and Clark, N. Y. Sta. Bul., 248:133. 1904.

SYNONYMS. AMERICAN MOTHER (20). Gardener's Apple (20). Mother Apple (20). MOTHER (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 21, 22, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31). MOTHER OF AMERICA (23). Queene Anne (12, 20).

A beautiful red apple of good size, with tender, rich, aromatic flesh of best dessert quality. It is less desirable for culinary uses, being somewhat lacking in acidity. It resembles Esopus Spitzenburg to a marked degree but ripens earlier and is not so good a keeper. In ordinary storage it does not keep well and November is its safe commercial limit, but in cold storage it may be held till March or later (31). The tree is below medium size and but a moderate grower. In many localities it is rather tender and liable to scald or canker on the trunk and larger branches. On this account it is desirable to topwork it upon Northern Spy or some other hardy, vigorous stock. It does not come into bearing very young and commonly is a biennial cropper yielding moderate to good crops. It cannot be recommended for general commercial planting but it is desirable for the home orchard.

Historical. Thomas described it in 1848 as "a new, handsome late autumn and early winter apple, of the highest quality," and stated that it originated at Bolton, Worcester county, Mass. (2). It is still listed by some nurserymen (22) but it is nowhere being extensively planted. It is but seldom found in cultivation in New York.

TREE. Tree below medium size, moderately vigorous or a rather slow grower. Form upright spreading to roundish, rather open. Twigs long, curved, moderately stout; internodes long. Bark brown, mingled with olive-green, lightly mottled with scarf-skin; slightly pubescent near tips. Lenticels numerous, rather conspicuous, medium size, oval, raised. Buds rather prominent, medium size, broad, plump, obtuse, free, pubescent.

FRUIT. Fruit below medium to above, sometimes large, pretty uniform in size and shape. Form roundish or roundish conic to oblong ovate, obscurely and broadly ribbed. Stem long to medium, moderately slender to rather thick. Cavity acute or approaching acuminate, rather shallow to moderately deep, rather narrow to moderately broad, often russeted, sometimes furrowed or compressed or lipped. Calyx small, closed or nearly so; lobes medium, narrow, acute. Basin shallow, narrow, a little abrupt, somewhat furrowed and wrinkled. Skin thin, smooth, golden yellow nearly covered with bright deep red, marbled and striped with carmine. Dots rather small, inconspicuous, yellowish or pale and submerged. Calyx tube rather long, funnel-form with wide limb and narrow cylinder. Stamens marginal. Core medium to rather small, abaxile; cells nearly symmetrical, open or partly open; core lines clasping. Carpels broadly ovate to roundish, emarginate, mucronate. Seeds rather dark, medium or below, plump, acute to acuminate. Flesh fine, tender, juicy, very mild subacid, aromatic, very good to best in flavor and quality. Season late September to January; it is in its prime in November.

— S.A. Beach, The Apples of New York, Vol. 2 (1905)

Mother. — Origin, Bolton, Massachusetts; tree of moderate vigor, rather slender, productive. Fruit medium or above; form roundish oblong, slightly conical, obscurely ribbed; surface golden yellow, almost wholly covered with clear, warm, rich red, splashed, marbled, striped with several shades of dark red and crimson; dots minute, light russet, numerous; cavity acute, deep, often a little russeted; stem slender, medium to long; basin narrow, small, corrugated; calyx closed. Core medium, closed, clasping; cells elliptical, abaxile; calyx-tube conical, inclining to funnel-shaped; stamens median; seeds numerous; flesh yellow especially toward the surface, juicy, very rich, spicy aromatic subacid, best. November to February.

— J.L. Budd & N.E. Hansen, American Horticultural Manual, Part II: Systematic Pomology (1914)

Mother. Size: medium. Form: round. Color: yellow-red. Quality: very good. Use: both kitchen and market. Season: winter.

— Granville Lowther (ed.), Encyclopedia of Practical Horticulture (1914)

MOTHER. Fl. and Pom., 1883, 121. G., Mutter Apfel. (So many apples have the name "Mother" that Hogg distinguished this one by prefixing the country of its origin :—American Mother.) Dessert. October to November, medium, 2½ by 2¼, oval conical, slightly ribbed. Colour, golden-yellow with dull brownish-red flush and faint stripes. Flesh, soft and, juicy, very sweet, yellow or slightly green of distinct flavour, resembling Peardrops. Eye, very small, closed, in a small fairly deep basin. Stem, rather short, slender in a moderate cavity which is compressed on one side. Growth, moderate; fertility rather irregular. Leaf, rather large, pale, nearly flat, down-hanging, sharply serrate. Origin, rather uncertain, but recorded in America before 1848. A very choice dessert fruit, which often keeps good till mid January.

— E.A. Bunyard, A Handbook of Hardy Fruits (1920)

MOTHER. Fig. 36.

Mother is one of the prized apples of old orchards, valued alike for its handsome appearance and its tender, rich, well-flavored flesh. It calls to mind the better known Esopus Spitzenburg, but it is not quite so good an apple either for dessert or for cookery, falling short in flavor and keeping qualities. The trees are seldom satisfactory and should be top-worked on a more vigorous stock to obtain vigor and thrift. Mother was described first in 1848 from Worcester County, Massachusetts. It is very generally grown in all apple regions.

Tree small, slow grower, upright-spreading, open. Fruit large, uniform in size and shape, round, round-conic or oblong-ovate, obscurely and broadly ribbed; stem long, slender; cavity acute, shallow, broad, often russeted, sometimes furrowed, compressed or lipped; calyx small, closed or nearly so; lobes narrow, acute; basin shallow, narrow, abrupt, furrowed and wrinkled; skin thin, smooth, golden yellow covered with bright deep red, marbled and striped with carmine; dots inconspicuous, yellow, submerged; calyx-tube long, funnelform with wide limb and narrow cylinder; stamens marginal; core small, abaxile; cells symmetrical, open or partly so; core-lines clasping; carpels broad-ovate to round, emarginate, mucronate; seeds dark, plump, acute; flesh yellow, fine, tender, juicy, mild subacid, aromatic; very good to best; September to January.

— U.P. Hedrick, Cyclopedia of Hardy Fruits (1922)

Planted Spring 1894. Tree a moderate grower. Fruit above medium size, oblong and tapering to eye. Skin greenish yellow, nearly covered with clear red, there are also a few small dots. Flesh yellow, tender, rich, juicy, aromatic, quality very good. Season November and December.

— Central Experimental Farm, Central Experimental Farm, Agassiz BC — Catalogue of Fruit Trees under Test (Bulletin No. 3, 1900) (1900)

Middle sized, medium size, rich fine flavour, juicy Oct. to Dec.

— James Veitch & Sons, Veitch's Fruit Trees (1911) (1911)
American Mother Gardener's Apple Mother Apple Mother of America Mutter Apfel Queen Anne Queene Anne Oslin