- Honeycrisp
Infobox Cultivar | name ="Malus domestica" 'Honeycrisp'
image_caption= Two Honeycrisp apples, showing the distinct two-toned coloring.
image_width = 250px
hybrid = 'Keepsake' × '???'
cultivar = 'Honeycrisp'
origin = flagicon|United States University of Minnesota, 1974Honeycrisp ("Malus domestica" 'Honeycrisp') is an
apple cultivar developed at the Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station's Horticultural Research Center at theUniversity of Minnesota , Twin Cities. Selected in 1974 as the B.O.D., and released in 1991, the Honeycrisp, once mistakenly slated to be discarded, has rapidly become a prized commercialcommodity , as its sweetness, firmness, and tartness make it an ideal apple for eating raw. The Honeycrisp also retains itspigment well, and boasts a relatively longshelf life when stored in cool, dry conditions.US Plant Patent 7197 as well as Report 225-1992 (AD-MR-5877-B) from the Horticultural Research Center indicate that the Honeycrisp is a hybrid of the apple cultivars Macoun and Honeygold. However,
genetic fingerprinting conducted by a group of researchers that included those attributed on the patent later determined that neither of these cultivars is a parent of the Honeycrisp, but that the Keepsake (another apple developed by the same U of Mcrossbreeding program) is one of the parents. The other parent has not been identified, but might be a numberedselection, that could even have been discarded by now.In 2006, the Andersen Elementary school in Bayport petitioned for the
Minnesota state legislature to make the Honeycrisp apple the state fruit; the bill was passed in May 2006.With the increase in popularity of the Honeycrisp Apple, the government of Nova Scotia has encouraged its local orchards to increase their supply through the Honeycrisp Orchard Renewal Program. From 2005 until 2010, apple producers in Nova Scotia can replace older apple trees with Honeycrisp trees at a subsidised rate. Already, many orchards in the Annapolis Valley on the Bay of Fundy have mature trees and plentiful supplies of Honeycrisps throughout the harvest season.
ee also
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Horticulture External links
* [http://www.minnesotaharvest.net/apple_honeycrisp.htm The story of Honeycrisp apple]
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