Late-autumn variety selected at the Central Siberian Botanical Garden (CSBG) of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Breeders: V. N. Vasil'eva, N. V. Moiseeva. Obtained by crossing White Naliv with Siberian crabapple. It has been officially approved for use in the Novosibirsk region and quickly spread to many regions and areas of Eastern and Western Siberia, as well as in northern Kazakhstan. Very popular in home gardens.
Medium-sized tree, forming a low-trunked shape (trunk 20-30 cm). Moderate crown density, rounded shape. Branches straight, evenly spaced, somewhat sparse. Fruit set is mixed type: clusters, fruiting spurs, occasionally single fruits.
Medium-length shoots, straight, round in cross-section, olive-brown, hairy. Leaves large, broad, elliptical, light green, matte, hairy, with delicate venation and finely toothed edges. Petioles long, hairy with lanceolate stipules.
Fruits are blunt-conical, tapering to the calyx, weighing up to 54 g (large-fruited semi-cultivar). Fruit surface is broadly ribbed. Main color is greenish-yellow, with a dark rose-colored covering over most of the fruit. Peduncle medium length and thickness, straight. Calyx non-dehiscent, closed. Subcalyx tube narrow, sac-like. Seed chambers closed, with brown conical seeds.
Flesh is creamy, medium density, tender, juicy, slightly tart-sweet with a piquant bitterness. Chemical composition of the fruit: total sugars — 9.9% (8.6-12.6%), titratable acids — 1.12% (0.77-1.54%) on fresh weight, tannins — 0.19% (0.12-0.26%) on fresh weight, ascorbic acid — 29 mg/100g (18.8-63.5 mg/100g), polyphenols (catechins) — 169 mg/100g (128.0-215.6 mg/100g), pectic substances — 0.9% (0.46-2.3%) on fresh weight.
Fruits ripen in early September, can be stored until late October; overripe fruits become watery.
Fruits are consumed fresh and are suitable for various processing methods: compotes, jams, jellies, etc. They exhibit good gelling properties. For compote preparation, fruits are used whole, including the peduncle.
Fruit-bearing begins in the 3rd-4th year. High-yielding variety (up to 113 kg per tree), with prolonged productive period. Cold-hardy, moderately resistant to scab.
Advantages of the variety: cold-hardy, early-bearing, high-yielding, high-vitamin fruits with good flavor, small trees with crowns suitable for mechanized maintenance and harvesting.
Disadvantages of the variety: poor transportability and insufficient fruit storability.
Kulundinsky variety is a valuable genetic resource for breeding for cold-hardiness, high yield, and high fruit vitamin content. At CSBG, numerous crosses of this variety with the best introductions and selected forms of wild Siberian crabapple have been conducted. Selection of promising forms continues from the hybrid background.
