Dante

Crab Apple

Variety Description

Varieties used for comparison: 'Royal Beauty' and 'Jade'

Summary: 'Dante' has strong vigour in the stool bed while it is medium for 'Royal Beauty'. The branching habit of 'Dante' is spreading while it is weeping for 'Royal Beauty'. 'Dante' has medium branching frequency while it is high in 'Royal Beauty'. The dormant one year old shoot of 'Dante' has very sparse to sparse pubescence on the upper half while it is medium for 'Royal Beauty'. 'Dante' has absent or very weak shine of the bark while it is weak for 'Royal Beauty'. 'Dante' has small to medium sized few lenticles while 'Royal Beauty' has large lenticels of medium number. 'Dante' has absent or very weak pubescence on the upper side of the shoot tip leaves while it is medium for 'Royal Beauty'. The lower side of the shoot tip leaves of 'Dante' is green while it is purple to purple-green for 'Royal Beauty'. The leaf of 'Dante' is large with weak anthocyanin colouration of the veins while they are medium sized with strong anthocyanin colouration for 'Royal Beauty'. At leaf fall, 'Dante' has a yellow leaf while it is reddish-purple and green in 'Royal Beauty'. 'Dante' leaves fall earlier than 'Jade' and 'Royal Beauty'. The flower petal of 'Dante' is mainly white with irregular patterns of pink while it is reddish-purple for 'Royal Beauty'. The fruit of 'Dante' has no ground colour while for 'Jade' it is yellow. 'Dante' has russet around the eye basin while it is around the stalk cavity in 'Jade'. The fruit flesh of 'Dante' is yellowish while it is reddish for 'Royal Beauty'. 'Dante' has better fruit setting ability than 'Royal Beauty'. 'Dante' has better resistance to Scab than 'Royal Beauty'.

Description:

TREE: ornamental type, vigorous vigour, spreading branching habit, medium branching frequency, hardy to zone 5A, extremely good ability to set fruit
ONE-YEAR OLD SHOOT: very weak to weak pubescence on the upper half, absent to very weak shine to the bark, medium flexibility, lenticels few and small to medium in size, predominantly reddish brown on the sunny side, medium sized lateral bud, pointed bud tip, the position of the bud relative to axis is adpressed, small to medium bud support

SHOOT TIP LEAF: reddish-purple, concave to straight shape in cross section, absent to very weak pubescence on the upper side, lower side green
LEAF: no lobes, large, orientation upwards to outwards, medium length/width ratio, acuminate apex, serrate margin, weak glossiness of upper side, no pubescence on lower side, weak anthocyanin colouration of veins, medium green, yellow colour before leaf fall, medium stipule size, early time of leaf fall

FLOWER: early bud burst, early beginning of flowering, white coloured bud with an irregular pattern of pink at the full balloon stage, green pedicel, single type
PETALS: ovate shape, touching to overlapping, mainly white with irregular patterns of pink on upper and lower sides

FRUIT: very small diameter, flat to flat globose shape, asymmetric in side view, weak to medium ribbing present, no crowning at distal end, persistence of calyx absent, very long persistence
EYE BASIN: aperture of eye closed to half opened, small sized eye, absent to very shallow depth, narrow to medium width
STALK: thin to medium thickness, long
STALK CAVITY: shallow, medium width
FRUIT SKIN: smooth surface, no bloom, no waxiness, no translucency, thick, no ground colour, very high amount of solid red over colour, low amount of russet around eye basin, small sized lenticels that are slightly prominent
FRUIT FLESH: yellowish colour, absent or very weak distinctness of core line when looked at in cross section, aperture of locules in cross section are opened
SEED: light brown, elliptic shape

DISEASE RESISTANCE: resistant to scab (Venturia inaequalis)

Origin & Breeding History: 'Dante' (experimental designations 'SJC59A76-08', and 'PGO-11') was discovered as an open pollinated seedling of a Malus baccata tree from the breeding program at the All Union Institute of Plant Industry, Leningrad, U.S.S.R., Russia. It was shipped to Ottawa in 1959 and has been under evaluation since 1976 at the Agriculture & Agri-Food Station in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec after the program terminated in Ottawa. The first selection was done in 1995 in Frelighsburg, Quebec based on disease/pest susceptibility and winter hardiness. Final selection was done in 1999 based on resistance to scab.

Tests & Trials: Tests and trials were conducted in L'Acadie, Quebec in 2008. There were 10 trees of 'Dante', 9 of 'Jade' and 4 of 'Royal Beauty' in trial. Trees were spaced 1.5 metres apart within the row with rows being spaced 5 metres apart.

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Crab Apple: 'Dante' (right) with reference variety 'Royal Beauty' (left)