Red Fleshed Apples - Dubbelman
An interesting apple sent to me some years ago by a Mr. Dubbelman in Stockholm. He thought it was 'Aldenham Purple' but I am not sure about the attribution.
The apple has a subacid, sweet, rather 'floral' flavour, very similar to that of the redfleshed sops-in-wine described elsewhere on this site. The red flesh colouration is temperature dependent; the apple is not a reliable redfleshed fruit because the colour only occurs when the days are warm and the evenings are cool.
So in Stockholm the flesh is crimson; in England it is usually off-white or pale pink if June and July are warm.
The apple is noteworthy because the flavour is very pleasant, the texture is soft, and there is very little acidity, which is the predominant fault with many redfleshed fruit.
The blossom, wood, young leaves and pips are all red. The fruits are small; flattened conical to conical; maximum diameter usually about 2½ inches. The apples are early mid-season, and keep for a few days before the flavour goes flat and the texture goes mealy.
The tree is a good pollinator of other varieties. It appears unwilling to set fruit when pollinated by certain mother varieties, for example Aerlie Redflesh (Hidden Rose). The blossom is very pretty, and this tree with its striking reddish young leaves would be worth growing for its foliage and flowers.
Not a serious fruit producing tree, but a good novelty for fruit salads, etc for those with space for several trees.
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Grown in Stockholm.
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Grown in UK, late Aug 2014. June / July were warm and the evenings /nights were 15C or warmer.
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UK grown; showing the effect of temperature on colour. Apples in both of the above pictures are equally ripe. The top apple had no exposure to cold evenings; second apple from the same tree was exposed to four consecutive cold nights; temp. went down to about 7C.
compiled by Nigel Deacon / Diversity website
