Romanite
Apple
Origin/History
The origin of this apple is unknown. Beach (1905) suggests it probably originated in one of the Carolinas or in Georgia, based on the region in which it was being grown when it first became known to pomologists.
The name Romanite has been applied to several different varieties of apples. In the earlier history of orcharding in this country it was applied very generally to the Rambo, but this synonymy has now become practically obsolete. The Gilpin or Carthouse apple has also passed under the name of Romanite and is still so called in a great many districts. The true Romanite of today, according to the accepted nomenclature of the American Pomological Society, is the old southern variety of this name. It has been sometimes confounded or placed as identical with Shockley in North Carolina, where it is much grown, but it is quite distinct. It is also distinct from Gilpin, sometimes known as Romanite.
So far as is known it is not grown in New York and is not recommended for planting in that state, being evidently not well adapted to regions as far north as New York (Beach, 1905).
[NOTE: Source text may be incorrect — Thomas (1903) equates Romanite with Carthouse, which both Downing and Beach explicitly identify as a different variety. Thomas appears to be using the name "Romanite" for the Gilpin/Carthouse apple, not the Southern Romanite described here.]
Tree
Tree vigorous, spreading, very productive. Branches slender. Wood short-jointed, dull grayish brown.
Fruit
Size: Small.
Form: Roundish conical, truncated.
Stem: Slender.
Cavity: Not described in source.
Calyx: In an abrupt basin.
Basin: Abrupt.
Skin: Yellow ground, mostly overspread with clear, light, handsome red, with indistinct light dots. Beach (1905) describes it generally as having "a good color."
Flesh/Flavor: Yellowish, fine-grained, juicy, mild, pleasant subacid. Good to very good.
Core/Seeds: Not described in source.
Season
February to April (Downing, 1900). Keeps remarkably well; Beach (1905) notes this as one of its chief recommendations in the South, where it is usually quite difficult to get varieties that are late enough for their long seasons. Downing (1900) describes it as valuable as a keeper, and for the evenness of its fruit.
Uses
Valued as a keeper and for the evenness of its fruit.
Subtypes/Variants
Not described in source.
Other
The Encyclopedia of Practical Horticulture (1914) lists this variety in a coded variety-characteristic table:
Description absent; variety present in variety-characteristic table.
Romanite (South). S re yr VG b W 3* 8*
Book Sources
Described in 4 period pomological works
Nursery Catalog Sources
Found in 1 catalog (1901) from Arkansas
- Yarbrough Bros. , Stephens , Arkansas — 1901
View original book sources (4)
— A.J. Downing, The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1900)ROMANITE.
Broad River. Southern Romanite.
The origin of this Apple is unknown. It has been sometimes confounded or placed as identical with Shockley in North Carolina, where it is much grown, but it is quite distinct. It is also distinct from Gilpin, sometimes known as Romanite. Tree vigorous, spreading, very productive. Branches slender. Wood short-jointed, dull grayish brown.
Fruit small, roundish conical, truncated, yellow ground, mostly overspread with clear, light, handsome red, indistinct light dots. Stalk slender. Calyx in an abrupt basin. Flesh yellowish, fine-grained, juicy, mild, pleasant subacid. Good to very good. February, April. Valuable as a keeper, and for the evenness of its fruit.
— S.A. Beach, The Apples of New York, Vol. 1 (1905)ROMANITE.
References. 1. (?) Phoenix, Horticulturist, 4:471. 1850. 2. Downing, 1869:339. fig. 3. Am. Pom. Soc. Cat., 1871:8. 4. Fitz, 1872:143. 5. Wickson, 1889:247. 6. Bailey, An. Hort., 1892:248. 7. Clayton, Ala. Sta. Bul., 47:6. 1893. 8. Stinson, Ark. Sta. An. Rpt., 7:47. 1894. 9. Budd-Hansen, 1903:166.
Synonyms. Broad River (2). Little Red Romanite. (Red Romanite, 1)? Romanite of the South (3, 4). Romanite, South (9). Southern Romanite (2, 8).
The name Romanite has been and is still applied to several different varieties of apples. In the earlier history of orcharding in this country it was applied very generally to the Rambo, but this synonymy has now become practically obsolete. The Gilpin or Carthouse apple has also passed under the name of Romanite and it is still so called in a great many districts. The true Romanite of to-day, according to the accepted nomenclature of the American Pomological Society, is the old southern variety of this name. It is also known in various parts of the South under the name of Little Red Romanite. The fruit of this variety is small but has a good color, is of good quality and keeps remarkably well, this last characteristic being one of its chief recommendations in the South where it is usually quite difficult to get varieties that are late enough for their long seasons. It is not recommended for planting in this state being evidently not well adapted to regions as far north as this.
Historical. The origin of this apple is unknown although it is probable from the region in which it was being grown when it first became known to pomologists that it originated in one of the Carolinas or in Georgia. So far as we know it is not grown in New York.
— Granville Lowther (ed.), Encyclopedia of Practical Horticulture (1914)Romanite (South). S re yr VG b W 3* 8*
— John J. Thomas, The American Fruit Culturist (1903)Romanite. See Carthouse.