Efremovskoe (Efremovskoe No. 1)

Autumn variety developed in 1886 in Blagoveshchensk by I. A. Efremov from seeds of an unknown large-fruited variety. In its native Amur region, the variety is not sufficiently winter-hardy and is cultivated in collective and home gardens in the form of espalier. Since the 1930s, in open-grown standard form, it has become widely popular in gardens of southern areas of Khabarovsk Krai and Primorye as the leading variety. With the emergence of new, more winter-hardy and superior quality varieties in the 1950s, it lost its leading position and is now mainly found in amateur gardens.

Medium-growing tree. Crown is broad-pyramidal or rounded with sparse branches. Main branches of medium thickness, angled at 40-50°. Bark is light-gray.

Shoots of medium length and thickness, light-brown. Fruit buds are rounded-acute, formed on one- or two-year wood. Leaves are small or medium-sized on short petioles, characteristic rounded shape with heart-shaped base and sharply rounded apex. Leaf blade of medium thickness, smooth, dark green, slightly hairy on the underside.

Flowers are medium-sized, cup-shaped, cream-colored. Stamens with large yellowish anthers, positioned above a short hairy stigma column.

Fruits (see photo) are small (average weight 35 g, maximum 45 g), round or round-conical. Maximum diameter is located at the middle of the fruit. Main fruit color is light-yellow, most of the surface covered with a solid carmine blush, which appears almost purple due to the waxy bloom. Peduncle of medium length and thickness, light-green, situated in a narrow deep rust-colored cup, calyx closed, sepals gathered together and directed upward. Basal parts of sepals are located on small fleshy red protrusions.

Flesh is white with yellowish tint, firm, juicy, slightly coarse, slightly acidic-sweet, without bitterness, pleasant in taste. Contains: water — 86.25%, dry matter — 13.81%, sugars — 9.9%, titratable acids — 0.98%, pectic substances — 0.8%, ascorbic acid — 17 mg/100g.

Fruits ripen in the second half of September. Fruit attachment is fairly strong, but under heavy rain and strong winds, significant fruit drop is observed. Fruits keep fresh for up to 36 days. Regarding fruit taste, it belongs to satisfactory table varieties, popular in markets. Suitable for technical processing into juices, apple wine, jam, etc.

Best pollinators: Vкусное, Amurskoe Urozhainoe. Enters fruiting on the third year of grafting. At peak fruiting age (10-12 years), yield reaches 25-30 kg of fruit per tree or 125-150 c/ha.

Winter-hardiness is medium, variety not resistant to sunburn. Average tree lifespan is about 18-20 years; grafted on sunburn-resistant rootstocks, lifespan increases to 25-28 years.

Advantages of the variety: relatively high resistance of flowers and young fruits to monilial burn — the most damaging disease on the Far East, regular and relatively high yield, satisfactory fruit taste.

Disadvantages of the variety: strong damage to trees by sunburn during spring-winter period and scab.

Variety is used in breeding as source material for resistance to monilial burn.