Pomona

Origin / History

Raised by Mr. Cox of Colnbrook Lawn, near Slough, Bucks, England, who also originated Cox Orange (Beach, after Hogg). The Herefordshire Pomona dates it "about 1825." Bunyard gives 1825 and says it was sent out by Mr. Smale, "Coinbrook nursery." Downing calls it "a variety from England."

The earlier works Beach cites carry it as Cox's Pomona: Downing (1869), Leroy (1873), Hogg (1884), Bailey (1892), Beach's own reports and articles (1894–1897), and Bunyard in the Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society (1898). Beach and Clark's New York Station bulletin of 1904 lists it under both names, and Beach heads his account Pomona.

A beautiful, very handsome, very attractive apple; Beach qualifies this as "rather attractive" when highly colored. Beach finds the fruit not very uniform in size, often unsymmetrical, tender, easily bruised, and not a very good keeper. He does not recommend it for commercial planting in New York. It was under trial at the Central Experimental Farm, Agassiz, British Columbia, planted spring 1896.

Tree

Tree medium size, a good grower, moderately vigorous (Beach). The Agassiz station calls it a vigorous grower; Bunyard calls the growth moderate. Branches moderately stout, spreading and often drooping; form roundish. Twigs straight, stocky, long; internodes medium. Bark rather bright reddish-brown mingled with olive-green, thinly overlaid with narrow streaks of gray scarf-skin. Lenticels rather numerous, conspicuous, medium to sometimes large, roundish or sometimes elongated. Buds medium to large, broad, obtuse, appressed, somewhat pubescent (Beach).

Leaves rather large, broad, dark green, base of petioles red (Beach). Bunyard describes the leaf as medium, roundish, light green, nearly flat, with broad, shallow serration.

Comes into bearing young and is an annual cropper, or nearly so, but only moderately productive (Beach). Bunyard calls it fertile.

Fruit

Size: Medium to very large. Most accounts place it at medium or above medium, sometimes or frequently large; Veitch calls it "large and fine," and Beach's technical description runs to very large. Bunyard gives "3 by 2." Beach's general account calls it not very uniform in size; his technical description calls it fairly uniform in size but not in shape.

Form: Oblate, somewhat conic to conic, flattened. Irregular, angular, and ribbed, the sides usually unequal, often unsymmetrical (Beach). Bunyard calls it round, flattened, conical, irregular. The Herefordshire Pomona describes it as ovate and somewhat flattened and angular.

Stem: Usually short and moderately thick (Beach); "rather short" (Bunyard). The Herefordshire Pomona gives the stalk as an inch long and deeply inserted.

Cavity: Deep to very deep. Large, acuminate to acute, broad, rather symmetrical or sometimes compressed, irregularly russeted (Beach).

Calyx: Slightly open to open or nearly closed; the Herefordshire Pomona calls it "slightly open." Medium size; lobes separated at base, short, rather broad, obtuse to acute, reflexed. Calyx tube wide, conical, sometimes extending to the core. Stamens median to nearly marginal (Beach).

Basin: Deep, angular (Herefordshire Pomona), and abrupt. Medium in width to rather wide, smooth or ridged, slightly wrinkled (Beach). Bunyard says the basin "has five prominent knobs."

Skin: Thin, tender, waxy, smooth (Beach). Ground clear pale yellow, yellow, or greenish yellow, flushed or partly blushed with crimson, in Downing's account a shade of crimson in the sun. Very much streaked, mottled, and narrowly striped with bright crimson and carmine. The Agassiz station describes the skin as russet green with a faint shade of red; the George Bunyard catalog calls the fruit "dull." Easily bruised (Beach).

Dots: Scattering, small, inconspicuous, usually whitish and submerged, sometimes gray or russet (Beach).

Flesh and flavor: Flesh white to whitish, tender, crisp, juicy, rather fine, not very firm; delicate (Herefordshire Pomona). Flavor subacid, brisk, sprightly. The Herefordshire Pomona calls it "pleasantly acid" and the George Bunyard catalog "distinctly acid." Downing rates it "good," and the Agassiz station's entry repeats his wording and verdict. Beach rates it "good to very good for culinary use."

Core and seeds: Core medium to small, somewhat abaxile; cells open or closed, symmetrical; core lines clasping. Carpels ovate to broadly roundish or elliptical, emarginate. Seeds medium to small, wide, short, very plump, flat, obtuse, dark brown (Beach).

Season

The recorded season runs from September into May. The book sources center on October. Beach gives September and October, calls it not a very good keeper, and puts its commercial limit in ordinary storage at October. Veitch calls it "an excellent keeper" and lists it "Jan. & May"; Bunyard carries it from October to December and the George Bunyard catalog from October to April.

Uses

Chiefly a culinary apple: valuable for the kitchen, excellent for cooking. The Herefordshire Pomona calls it "a first-rate and very handsome culinary apple." Bunyard classes it as dessert or culinary.

Subtypes / Variants

Not described in source.

Other

The George Bunyard catalog (1914) appends the notation "(H, B.T., P.)" to its entry.