Scired

Apple

Variety Description

Varieties used for comparison: 'Royal Gala', 'Splendour' and 'Red Delicious'

Summary: 'Scired' is a late season apple variety which produces globose conical shaped fruit which have significantly less ribbing than the reference varieties. 'Scired' has very weak ribbing and weak crowning at the distal end, whereas 'Royal Gala' has medium ribbing and crowning, 'Splendour' has weak to medium ribbing and crowning and 'Red Delicious' has very strong ribbing and strong crowning. The fruit stalk of 'Scired' is shorter than that of 'Royal Gala' and longer than the stalk of 'Red Delicious'. There is significantly more bloom on the skin of the 'Scired' fruit than there is on the skin of 'Royal Gala' and 'Splendour'. 'Scired' matures later than the reference varieties, in mid-October in the Okanagan Valley. 'Scired' differs from the other candidate variety 'Sciearly' in amount and colour of fruit overcolour and in maturity date. 'Scired' matures three to four weeks later than 'Sciearly' in Summerland, British Columbia.

Description:

'Scired' is a dessert apple variety which produces upright trees with moderately weak branches. The major fruit load is borne on spurs. One year old shoots have very shiny, reddish brown bark, medium to strong pubescence on the upper half and many small to medium sized lenticels. The internodes are short and the lateral buds are medium in length. The bud tips are pointed to rounded and the buds are adpressed to the shoot with a small to medium sized bud support. The growing tip of the shoot is green. In cross section the shoot tip leaves are concave and have no pubescence on the upper side. The lower side of the shoot tip leaves is green with purple colouration on the veins and petiole. There is no leaf lobing. The fully expanded leaves of 'Scired' are medium sized and oriented upwards. The apex is acuminate, the margins are crenate and the upper side is dark green and weakly glossy. The lower side of the leaf is weakly pubescent. Anthocyanin colouration on the veins is weak. The leaf petioles are short and the stipules are medium in size. Bud burst for 'Scired' is mid-season. The variety has medium pink flower buds and a green and purple pedicel. The flowers are single with circular to narrow ovate shaped petals that have free (not overlapping) petal margins. The petals are purplish pink on the upper and lower sides, and the colour fades to nearly white as the flower ages.

'Scired' produces moderately large fruit that are symmetrical and globose conical in shape. Ribbing is very weak and crowning at the distal end is weak. The eye is medium in size with a closed aperture. The sepals are medium to long and touching at the base. The eye basin of 'Scired' is deep and medium in width. The fruit stalk is medium in length and thickness and the stalk cavity is narrow in width and shallow to medium in depth. The surface of the fruit is smooth and the skin has a very strong bloom and medium waxiness and thickness. The ground colour of the fully mature fruit is yellow with some greenish yellow and there is a very high amount of dark red to purple overcolour in a blush pattern. There is a low amount of russet on 'Scired', located around the stalk cavity and on the cheeks. The lenticels are medium in size and prominent. 'Scired' has cream to greenish yellow coloured flesh and in cross-section the core line is strongly distinct. The locules are open. 'Scired' matures very late (mid-October in Summerland, British Columbia) and has good fruit setting. At maturity the seeds are brown and normal in shape. Browning of the flesh is weak one hour after being cut. The fruit flesh is intermediate to fine in texture, juicy and firm. Sugar content in the fruit juice is high.

Origin & Breeding History: 'Scired' was selected from a population of seedlings derived from crossing the apple varieties 'Gala' and 'Splendour' in 1974. The selection was carried out at Havelock North, New Zealand. The selection criteria were red colour, eating quality, crispness and storage ability of the fruit. After selection, the variety was increased by the asexual propagation methods of budding and grafting.

Tests & Trials: Tests and trials for 'Scired' were conducted by the okanagan Plant Improvement Company Ltd., (PICO) at the Pacific Agri-Food Research Centre in Summerland, British Columbia during 2003. The trials consisted of 5 trees of each variety, grafted onto M26 rootstock and planted in Field 10 at Pacific Agri-Food Research Centre. Measured characteristics were based on a minimum of 10 measurements.

Comparison tables for 'Scired' with reference varieties 'Royal Gala', 'Splendour' and 'Red Delicious'

Flower diameter (mm)

Colour of petal (RHS)

Fruit diameter (mm)

Percentage total sugars in fruit juice