Apple Gorno-Altaisky

This summer variety was obtained at the Scientific Research Institute of Horticulture of Siberia named after M. A. Lisavensky by crossing 'Ranetka purpurovaya' with 'Pepin shafранny' in 1937. Breeders: M. A. Lisavensky, I. A. Kukharsky, M. A. Sizemova, V. A. Sirotkina. Widely distributed in Western Siberia. Approved since 1959 for the Western Siberian, Northern, North-Western, and Volga-Vyatka regions.

Medium-sized tree with a round, moderately dense crown formed by strong skeletal branches, with many buds and fruiting spurs, where fruiting is mainly concentrated.

Shoots are light-brown, hairy, with small light-colored hairs. Leaves are medium-sized, oval-rounded with a long, sharp tip, gray-green, matte, with a shaggy surface, slightly hairy underneath. Petioles are hairy, with small lanceolate stipules.

Fruits (see illustration) are small (30-49 g), round-conical, ribbed. Surface is smooth. Main color is yellow, with a bright red covering on most of the fruit. Peduncle is long, thin, greenish, hairy. Calyx is small, slightly rusty. Receptacle is small, closed, shallow, ribbed.

Flesh is creamy, finely grained, juicy, sweet-sour, with good flavor. Chemical composition of fruits: total sugars — 11.5% (6.4-16.9), titratable acids — 1.02% (0.40-1.47), tannins — 217 mg/100g (70-390), ascorbic acid — 24.7 mg/100g (3.4-44.9), P-active compounds — 288 mg/100g (107-560), pectin substances — 5.0% on dry weight.

Fruits ripen at the end of August, with storage life of 20-30 days.

Fruits are of universal use. Juices extracted from them are of very high quality.

Fruit-bearing begins on the fourth-fifth year. Yield is medium, regular. Winter hardiness is high; trees suffer only slightly in exceptionally severe winters.

Advantages of the variety: high winter hardiness and exceptional resistance to scab, regular fruiting, fruits of good flavor and universal use. Donor of scab resistance.

Disadvantages of the variety: small fruits; when ripening in rainy weather, the fruit skin cracks.

The variety is widely used in breeding in Siberia for creating winter-hardy, scab-resistant varieties with high-quality fruits. Varieties created at the NIISS with its participation include 'Souvenir of Altai', 'Winter Saffron', 'Red Hill', 'Zhebrovskoe', 'Solovyevskoe', 'Surprise', 'Smuglyanochka'.