Transparent de Zurich
Apple
Transparent de Zurich
Origin/History
Not described in source.
Tree
Not described in source.
Fruit
Size: Two inches high and two and a half inches in diameter (Desportes); small or medium (Elliott; Downing, citing Elliott).
Form: Obovate, larger towards the stem and narrower towards the eye (Desportes).
Stem: Slender, half an inch long, curved (Desportes).
Cavity: Profound (Desportes).
Calyx: Eye compressed, closed (Desportes).
Basin: Set in a wrinkled cavity (Desportes).
Skin: White like wax, with a brilliant appearance and without the smallest spot; very fine (Desportes). Clear and translucent (Elliott; Downing).
Flesh/Flavor: White like snow, not visually different from the skin; dry and acidulous (Desportes).
Core/Seeds: Not described in source.
Season
September and October (Desportes); September (Elliott; Downing).
Uses
Dessert. Desportes rates the quality as only third rate on eating grounds, but considers it one of the most ornamental dessert apples known, remarkable for its waxen appearance and brilliant white coloring. Elliott concurs that beauty is its only merit.
Subtypes/Variants
Not described in source.
Other
Not described in source.
Book Sources
Described in 3 period pomological works
- Downing, Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1900)
- Elliott, The Western Fruit Book (1865)
- The Horticulturist (1855) — listed as No. 13. Transparent de Zurich Apple
View original book sources (3)
— B. Desportes, The Horticulturist (1856)No. 13. Transparent de Zurich Apple. —Fruit of two inches high, and two and a half inches in diameter; form, obovate, larger towards the stem, and narrower towards the eye; stalk, slender, half an inch long, curved, inserted in a profound cavity; eye, compressed, closed, set in a wrinkled cavity; color, white, like the wax, of which this apple has the appearance, and the brilliant coloring, without the smallest spot; skin, very fine; flesh, white, like the snow, and not different from the skin; dry, acidulous; it is only of third rate, but I do not know another, a more pretty or more ornamental desert apple. It ripens in September and October.
[Additional entry in this volume: "Transparent de Zurich Apple", pp. 530–530]
No. 13. Transparent de Zurich Apple. —Fruit of two inches high, and two and a half inches in diameter; form, obovate, larger towards the stem, and narrower towards the eye; stalk, slender, half an inch long, curved, inserted in a profound cavity; eye, compressed, closed, set in a wrinkled cavity; color, white, like the wax, of which this apple has the appearance, and the brilliant coloring, without the smallest spot; skin, very fine; flesh, white, like the snow, and not different from the skin; dry, acidulous; it is only of third rate, but I do not know another, a more pretty or more ornamental desert apple. It ripens in September and October.
— F.R. Elliott, The Western Fruit Book (1865)Transparent de Zurich.
Small or medium, beauty its only merit, waxen white, clear, translucent. September.
— A.J. Downing, The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1900)Transparent de Zurich. Fruit small or medium, beautiful waxen white, clear, translucent. September. (Elliott.)