Jonathan (apple)

Jonathan is a medium-sized sweet^[1] apple, with a touch of acid^[2] and a tough but smooth skin, good for eating fresh and for cooking. Parentage = Esopus Spitzenburg x ?^[3][2]

• Sugar 12.5%
• Acid 7.7 g/litre^[4]
• Vitamin C 5mg/100g.^[5]

Typical size distribution^[4]

<55 mm	55-60 mm	60-65 mm	65-70 mm	70-75 mm
9 %	17 %	38 %	31 %	5 %

Malus domestica Jonathan
Species	Malus domestica
Cultivar	Jonathan
Origin	Woodstock, New York, before 1826 [1]

Jonathan

Jonathan

History

There are two alternative theories about the origin of the Jonathan apple.

The first theory; it was grown by Rachel Negus Higley, who gathered seeds from the local cider mill in Connecticut. This was before the family made their journey to the wilds of Ohio in 1796, where she planted them.^[6] She continued to carefully cultivate her orchard to maturity and named the resulting variety after a young local boy, Jonathan Lash, who frequented her orchard.^{[citation needed]}

The other, more accepted, theory is that it originated from an Esopus Spitzenburg seedling in 1826, on the farm of Philip Rick(s) in Woodstock, Ulster County, New York. A DNA profiling study supports this descent.^[7] Although it may have originally been called the "Ricks" apple, it was soon renamed by Judge Jesse Buel, President of Albany Horticultural Society, after Jonathan Zander, who discovered the apple and brought it to Buel's attention.^[8][2]

Esopus Spitzenburg a parent of Jonathan

Descendants

• Akane between Jonathan x Worcester Pearmain
• Querina Florina (scab resistant)
• Idared Jonathan x Wagener
• Jonadel Jonathan x Delicious
• Jonafree Jonathan x scab-free stock
• Jonagold— Golden Delicious x Jonathan
• Jonamac—a cross between Jonathan and McIntosh apples
• Karminj de Sonnaville Cox Orange x JOnathan.
• King David a cross between Jonathan and Winesap
• Malling Kent Cox Orange x Jonathan
• Mareda a cross between Jonathan and Northern Spy
• Melrose Jonathan x Delicious
• Rubinstar
• Septer Jonathan x Golden Delicious
• Undine
• Wealthy a cross between Jonathan and Duchess of Oldenburg.

Disease susceptibility

• Scab: high^[9]
• Powdery mildew: high
• Cedar apple rust: high
• Fire blight: high
• Apple canker (Neonectrica ditissima): medium