Milwa

Apple

Variety Description

Varieties used for comparison: 'Royal Gala' and 'Elstar'

Summary: The trees of 'Milwa' have very weak vigour while those of both reference varieties have medium vigour. The internode of the one-year-old shoot of 'Milwa' is shorter than that of both reference varieties. The pubescence on the distal half of the one-year-old shoot of 'Milwa' is dense whereas it is sparse on 'Elstar'. The one-year-old shoot of 'Milwa' has very few to few lenticels whereas that of both reference varieties has many lenticels. The leaf blade of 'Milwa' is smaller than that of both reference varieties. The petiole of 'Milwa' is longer than that of 'Royal Gala'. With the petals pressed into a horizontal position, the flower diameter of 'Milwa' is medium to large whereas that of 'Royal Gala' is small. The arrangement of the petals of 'Milwa' are overlapping while those of both reference varieties are not touching. The fruit of 'Milwa' is small to medium sized while that of both reference varieties is medium to large. The fruit of 'Milwa' is obloid shaped whereas the fruit of 'Royal Gala' is conic shaped. At the calyx end, the fruit of 'Milwa' has absent or weak crowning while the fruit of 'Royal Gala' has strong crowning. The fruit skin of 'Milwa' has absent or weak greasiness while the fruit skin of 'Elstar' has strong greasiness. The overcolour on the fruit of 'Milwa' is a large, light pink red solid flush with weakly defined stripes while it is a medium sized, medium red weakly defined flush with strongly defined stripes for 'Royal Gala' and small, dark red, flushed and mottled for 'Elstar'. The fruit of 'Milwa' has few to a medium number of small to medium sized lenticels while that of 'Royal Gala' has many small to medium sized lenticels and that of 'Elstar' has a medium number of medium to large lenticels. The stalk of the fruit of 'Milwa' is thicker than that of 'Royal Gala'. The stalk cavity of the fruit of 'Milwa' is shallow to medium depth while that of 'Elstar' is medium to deep. The eye basin of 'Milwa' is very shallow to shallow while that of both reference varieties is of medium depth. In transverse section, the aperture of locules on the fruit of 'Milwa' is closed or slightly open while that of 'Royal Gala' is fully open and that of 'Elstar' is moderately open.

Description:

TREE: very weak vigour, ramified type, spreading growth habit, bearing fruit on spurs and long shoots, begins flowering mid-season, early to mid-season harvest maturity, mid-season eating maturity
ONE-YEAR-OLD SHOOT: medium thickness, dark brown on sunny side, dense pubescence on distal half of shoot, very few to few lenticels

LEAF: outwards attitude in relation to shoot, very large length to width ratio, medium to dark green, serrate type two incisions of margin on upper half, absent or sparse pubescence on lower side
PETIOLE: small extent of anthocyanin colouration extending from base

FLOWER: light pink at balloon stage, medium to large diameter when pressed into horizontal position, petal arrangement is overlapping, stigma positioned above anthers

YOUNG FRUIT: medium extent of anthocyanin colouration
FRUIT: small to medium size, small height to diameter ratio, obloid shape, absent or weak ribbing, absent or weak crowning at calyx end, medium sized eye, medium to long sepals, medium area of russet around stalk, absent or small area of russet on cheeks and around eye basin, closed or slightly open aperture of locules
SKIN: moderate bloom, absent or weak greasiness, yellow green ground colour, large relative area of light pink red overcolour as a solid flush with weakly defined stripes, medium to broad stripes, few to a medium number of small to medium sized lenticels
STALK: thick, shallow to medium depth and medium width cavity
EYE BASIN: very shallow to shallow, medium width
FLESH: medium to firm, cream

Origin & Breeding History: 'Milwa' originated from a controlled cross between and the variety 'XII A 227' ('Idared' x 'Maigold'), as the female parent, and variety 'Elstar', as the male parent, in 1982 at Agroscope Changins-Wadenswil Research Station ACW in Wadenswil, Switzerland. In 1985, a single tree of 'Milwa' from the above seedling cross was propagated through budding, on M27 rootstock, and was further propagated and tested in 1988. 'Milwa' was selected based on fruit appearance, taste, texture and suitable harvest time.

Tests & Trials: The comparative trial of 'Milwa' was conducted in 2015 and 2016 in the Summerland Varieties Corporation test plot, at 4200 Block, Highway 97, in Summerland, British Columbia, Canada. In 2012, 9 trees of the candidate variety and 5 trees of the reference variety 'Elstar' were planted and grafted onto rootstock variety 'M9' using a super spindle planting scheme. Prior to 2000, 10 trees of reference variety 'Royal Gala' and 5 trees of reference variety 'Elstar' were planted and grafted onto rootstock MM111. All 9 trees of 'Milwa' and 5 trees of reference variety 'Elstar' were planted 0.46 metres apart in rows spaced 3 metres apart from each other. The 10 trees of reference variety 'Royal Gala' and the 5 remaining trees of reference variety 'Elstar' were planted 0.91 metres apart in rows spaced 3 metres apart from each other. In 2015 and 2016, observations and measurements were taken from 10 trees, or 10 parts of trees, of the candidate and reference varieties.

Comparison tables for 'Milwa' with reference varieties 'Royal Gala' and 'Elstar'

Internode length of one-year-old shoot (cm)

Leaf blade length (cm)

Leaf blade width (cm)

Petiole length (cm)

Fruit height (cm)

Fruit diameter (cm)

Click on image for larger view

Apple: 'Milwa' (left) with reference varieties 'Royal Gala' (centre) and 'Elstar' (right)