CN121

Apple

Variety Description

Variety used for comparison: 'Honeycrisp'

Summary: The one-year-old shoot of 'CN121' is medium to thick whereas that of 'Honeycrisp' is thin. The leaf petiole of ‘CN121' is shorter than that of ‘Honeycrisp'. The fruit stalk of ‘CN121' is shorter than that of ‘Honeycrisp'. The fruit of 'CN121' is small to medium sized while that of ‘Honeycrisp' is large. The sepal of the fruit of ‘CN121' is of short to medium length whereas that of ‘Honeycrisp' is long. The fruit skin of ‘CN121' has narrow to medium width stripes and large lenticels while that of ‘Honeycrisp' has broad stripes and small to medium sized lenticels. The eye basin of the fruit of 'CN121' is narrow whereas that of 'Honeycrisp' is medium to broad. The time of harvest and eating maturity for 'CN121' is late whereas it is mid-season for 'Honeycrisp'.

Description:

TREE: medium vigour, ramified type, upright to spreading growth habit, fruit bearing on spurs and long shoots, begins flowering early to mid season, late fruit harvest and eating maturity
ONE-YEAR-OLD SHOOT: medium to thick, dark brown on side facing sun, sparse pubescence on distal half, medium number of lenticels

PETIOLE: ranging between very small to small and medium but predominantly small extent of anthocyanin colouration from base
LEAF BLADE: outwards attitude in relation to shoot, medium length to width ratio, medium to dark intensity of green on upper side, serrate type 1 incisions of margin on distal half, medium density of pubescence on lower side

FLOWER: predominantly dark pink at balloon stage, intermediate arrangement of petals, stigmas positioned at same level to above anthers
YOUNG FRUIT: small extent of anthocyanin over colour
FRUIT: small to medium sized, medium height to diameter ratio, globose shape, absent or weak degree of ribbing, absent or weak crowning at calyx end, short to medium length sepal
FRUIT SKIN: medium degree of bloom, absent or weak degree of greasiness, yellow green ground colour, medium relative area of over colour, medium to dark red over colour with a flushed, striped and mottled pattern, narrow to medium width stripes, medium sized area of russet around stalk attachment, absent or small area of russet on cheeks, absent or small area of russet around eye basin, medium to many large lenticels
FRUIT STALK: medium to thick
FRUIT STALK CAVITY: medium depth, narrow to medium width
FRUIT EYE: small
FRUIT EYE BASIN: shallow, narrow
FRUIT FLESH: firm, cream coloured, moderately open aperture of locules in transverse section

Origin & Breeding History: ‘CN121' originated from an open pollination of ‘Honeycrisp' occurring in the spring of 1994 through an ongoing fruit breeding program at an orchard in Worthington, Minnesota, USA. Seed from an open-pollinated ‘Honeycrisp' tree were collected in 1994, germinated and seedlings were produced. In 2004, one seedling of ‘CN121' was selected based on its fruit quality characteristics, fruit texture and storability.

Tests & Trials: The comparative trial for ‘CN121' was conducted from 2023 to 2025 at Summerland Research and Development Centre in Summerland, British Columbia. The trial consisted of 5 trees of each variety planted in 2016 on EMLA 106 rootstock. Trees were planted approximately 0.6 metres apart within a row and the rows were 3 metres apart. Observations and measurements were taken on 5 trees, or 10 parts of trees, for all varieties. The fruit stalks were measured on 7 parts of trees for ‘CN121' and 10 parts of trees for ‘Honeycrisp'. Mean differences were significant at the 5% confidence probability level based on a paired Student's t-test.

Comparison tables for 'CN121' with reference variety 'Honeycrisp'

Petiole length (cm)

Fruit stalk length (cm)

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Apple: 'CN121' (right) with reference variety 'Honeycrisp' (left)

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Apple: 'CN121' (right) with reference variety 'Honeycrisp' (left)