From the Living Museum
Spartan
- Origin
- Summerland, British Columbia, Canada; a 1926 cross by R.C. Palmer of McIntosh with an unknown pollen parent (long thought to be Newtown Pippin)
- Era
- Crossed 1926
- Type / use
- Dessert · Fresh eating
History & Stories
Bright red fruit with crisp, juicy flesh that stores better than McIntosh. Unique as a successful Canadian-bred improvement on McIntosh that retains good flavor while gaining storage life and cold hardiness.
Folklore & Name
Canadian breeding: McIntosh × an unknown pollen parent, once believed to be Newtown Pippin 1. Name evokes the Spartan ideal or simply a strong, reliable variety. Successful improvement on McIntosh with better storage.
Digging into the History
Below my own notes, here is what the old fruit books and today’s collections record about this apple, kept apart from the stories people tell.
What we know
Spartan was bred in British Columbia. A review in the Journal of the American Pomological Society says it "originated from a cross made by R.C. Palmer in 1926," at a time when breeders wanted an apple harvested later than McIntosh and storing better 1. Palmer worked at the Dominion Experimental Station at Summerland. According to the review, commercial plantings spread well beyond Canada, to Britain, several countries in Europe, and as far as Tasmania and New Zealand 1.
The competing accounts
- The long-standing account, as reported in the Journal of the American Pomological Society 1: McIntosh × Yellow Newtown, believed for more than fifty years.
- The same review 1: an isozyme study showed the pollen parent cannot be Yellow Newtown; McIntosh remains the seed parent.
Most likely (our judgment, not a certainty): McIntosh crossed with an unknown pollen parent. A genetic test can rule a parent out, and nothing has yet ruled the father in.
What we think: stories & traditions
A mystery father. "For more than half a century, 'Spartan' was believed to be a cross of 'McIntosh' X 'Yellow Newtown'," the review says, but "a study of isozyme polymorphism inheritance patterns has since shown that the pollen parent cannot be 'Yellow Newtown'" 1. McIntosh is still accepted as the seed parent. The pollen parent is unknown.
Built for the cold. The review reports that Spartan survives in the northern Okanagan, where winters are too hard for some other varieties, and has withstood -37 °C in freeze tests 1.
Sources
- 'Spartan' Apple, Journal of the American Pomological Society. journal.americanpomological.org/index.php/jofaps/article/download/2366/2370/5091
Curious about Spartan?
Email us at drgoss@honeytreeorchard.com.