Rhode Island Greening
The Rhode Island Greening is an old, historic American apple variety and the official fruit of the state of Rhode Island.
History
The Rhode Island Greening allegedly originated around 1650 near Green’s End in Newport, Rhode Island (in modern day Middletown) . The first Greenings were allegedly grown by a Mr. Green who operated a tavern and developed apple trees from seed. Green gave many scions from the tree to visitors for grafting elsewhere, and the original tree died. The apples became known as Green's Inn apples from Rhode Island. One of the oldest surviving trees was located on Mt. Hygeia farm in Foster, Rhode Island at the turn of the twentieth century.[1] The Rhode Island Greening was one of the most popular apples grown in New York in the nineteenth century.[2]
Characteristics
It is tender, crisp, juicy and quite tart and similar to the Granny Smith. The fruit is large, uniformly round in shape and flattened on the ends with a dark, waxy green skin that turns a greenish-yellow when fully ripe. It keeps well into the winter and ripens from September to October, keeping well into February or longer.[3]
References
- ↑ The Apples of New York By Spencer Ambrose Beach, Nathaniel Ogden Booth, Orin Morehouse Taylor, New York (State). Dept. of Agriculture, New York State Agricultural Experiment Station Published by J.B. Lyon, 1905 Item notes: v.1, pg. 281
- ↑ "Cyclopedia of American Horticulture: Comprising Suggestions for Cultivation of Horticultural Plants, Descriptions of the Species of Fruits, Vegetables, Flowers, and Ornamental Plants Sold in the United States and Canada, Together with Geographical and Biographical Sketches" By Liberty Hyde Bailey, Wilhelm Miller Edition: 2 Published by The Macmillan Company, 1902, pg. 1515
- ↑ "Essentials of Fruit Culture: Varieties of Apples; Apple Culture; Apple Pests and Injuries; Apple Harvesting, Storing, and Marketing; Pear Culture; Cherries, Apricots, and Quinces" By International Correspondence Schools Published by International Textbook Company, 1913, pg. 36-37 (accessed on Google Book Search on February 8, 2009)
