Red Delicious

Red Delicious is a variety of apple with a red exterior and sweet taste. Known as "the Reds" in the industry, this variety is the result of a chance seedling. It was first recognized in Madison County, Iowa, United States, in 1872. Despite its name, it is not related to the Golden Delicious.

The Red Delicious is harvested in mid-October, but is available all year round and is best consumed fresh or in salads. It could also make up part of the blend for apple cider. Today, the name Red Delicious covers more than 50 cultivars (cultivated varieties). It was the most produced apple cultivar in the United States from 1968 until 2018, when it was surpassed by Gala. It also lost that title in Canada at around the same time. Even so, it remains popular in Mexico and some Asian countries.

A 1996 study found that clones of the Red Delicious were some of the most commonly used to breed new apple varieties, behind only the McIntosh, Golden Delicious, Jonathan, and Cox's Orange Pippin. Many new varieties developed in the nations of the Pacific Rim have the Red Delicious in their pedigrees.

Pollinating partners of the Red Delicious include the Gala, Ginger Gold, and Golden Delicious.

Origins

[[File:MalusDSC1422.jpg|thumb|Modern Red Delicious apples tend to be uniformly red. But selection for redder fruit resulted in loss of flavor.

The winner was a red and yellow striped apple sent by Jesse Hiatt, a farmer in Peru, Iowa, who called it "Hawkeye" in honor of his home state. In 1914, the 'Delicious' became the 'Red Delicious' as a retronym. making transportation easy. It became the most popular apple in the United States during the 1940s. But according to Tom Burford, it was the Red Delicious that was the most heavily promoted by Washington farmers.

center|frame|The Red Delicious continues to be the second most produced apple variety in the United States during the first half of the 2020s.

American farmers began to replace the Red Delicious in their orchards with other cultivars such as Gala, Fuji, and Honeycrisp. By 2014 the Washington Apple Commission was recommending growers plan to export 60% or more of production. However, the COVID-19 pandemic was projected to continue reducing domestic demand for the Red Delicious as many cafeterias and other typical sales points for the apple were closed. By 2021, the Red Delicious accounted for only 15% of the output of Washington state. Despite these challenges, during the mid-2020s, the Red Delicious remained one of the most produced apples in the United States. In 2024, the Red Delicious accounted for 12.3% of the American apple market, behind only the Gala (17%). Washington State, Michigan, and New York are the nation's top producers of this variety. In Oregon, it remains the most produced apple, in terms of the number of 42-pound bushels harvested. However, by this time, most American-harvested Red Delicious apples were for export rather than domestic consumption.

Sports (mutations)

Over the years many propagable mutations, or sports, have been identified among Red Delicious apple trees.

Patented

In addition to those propagated without any patent applications (or cut out because they were seen as inferior), 42 sports have been patented in the United States:

{| class="wikitable"

! Date

! Inventor

! Marketed as

! Mutated from

! Assignee

! Habit

! Pattern

! Earlier

! Color

! Plant patent number

|-

| Apr 3, 1934 ||Henry Shotwell ||Shotwell Delicious|| Delicious || C&O || standard || less stripe || 2 wk. || 3-4 times ||

|-

| May 18, 1954 || Plough || Royalred¹⁸⁰⁵ || Richared || C&O || standard || blush || 10 d. || lighter ||

|-

| Aug 23, 1955 || Brauns || Red King¹⁸¹¹ || Starking || Van Well || standard || stripe || 2 wk. || more complete ||

|-

| Feb 12, 1957 || Bisbee || Starkrimson || Starking || Stark || spur || blush || "earlier" || more uniform ||

|-

| Feb 3, 1959 || Frazier & Jenkins || || Starking || Elon J. Gilbert || standard || blush || 10 d. || brighter ||

|-

| Feb 17, 1959 || Hamilton || Chelan Red|| || Hamilton || standard || blush || 2 wk. || darker ||

|-

| Mar 24, 1959 || Gilbert || Redspur || Starking || C&O || spur || blush || later || brighter ||

|-

| Feb 23, 1960 || Hutchinson || Top Red³⁵⁵⁶ || Shotwell || C&O || standard || striped || 2-3 wk. || darker ||

|-

| Apr 5, 1960 || Wood || Woods, Starkspur²⁶⁰⁶ || Starking || Stark || spur || striped || 1 wk. || deeper ||

|-

| Sep 24, 1963 || Gould || || Red Delicious || Miller&Miller || standard || blush || "early" || more intense ||

|-

| Aug 11, 1964 || Gilbert Miller || Sturdyspur || Starking || Cons. Orch. Co || spur || blush || "early" || dark ||

|-

| Aug 25, 1964 || Frank Rypczynski || "Frank", Super Starking⁵⁵⁶⁹ || Starking || Stark || standard || subdued stripes || 30 d. || fuller ||

|-

| Mar 15, 1966 ||C.L. Cooper, Washington, US ||Regal Chelan Spur || Welspur || || spur || stripe || 10-14d. || more intense ||

|-

| June 4, 1968 || Trumbull || Oregon Spur⁴⁸¹⁹ || Red King || Van Well || spur || stripe || 2 wk. || darker ||

|-

| Dec 23, 1969 ||Herbert Diede Washington, US ||Red Bouquet || Starking || Stark || standard || || || more intense ||

|-

| Feb 2, 1971 || Matson || Stark Earlibrite⁵⁵⁴⁷ || Ryan Red || Stark || standard || blush || 1 month || bright ||

|-

| Mar 2, 1971 || Maxam || || Starking || || standard || blush || || deeper ||

|-

| Apr 13, 1971 || Norton || || Vance || || spur || || 2-3 wk. || brilliant ||

|-

| Feb 19, 1974 || Coke || Rose Red || Starking || Rose || spur || blush || from start || dark ||

|-

| May 7, 1974 || Pagnelli || || Starking || Stark || spur || blush || || brighter ||

|-

| May 28, 1974 ||A.M. Ward, Washington, US || Early Red One⁴⁸³⁹ || Brauns || Van Well || standard || stripe || 4 wk. || darker blackish-purple ||

|-

| May 28, 1974 || Flanagan || || Starking || Stark || spur || stripe || before Topred || brighter, lighter ||

|-

| June 11, 1974 || Slusarenko || || unknown || Stark || standard || stripe || 4 d. before #2440 || red ||

|-

| June 25, 1974 ||Fred Campbell, Washington, US || Red Chief³⁵⁷⁸ || Starkrimson || Hilltop || spur || stripe || "earlier" || deeper, brighter ||

|-

|Apr 13, 1976||A.G. Staniforth, B.C. Canada||Spured Royal Delicious||Royal Delicious||Okanogan Nursery || || || || || USPP 3864

|-

|May 11, 1976||C.L. Cooper, Washington, US||Starkspur Prime Red||Topred Delicious||Stark ||tree smaller than Topred Delicious || || || ||USPP 3882

|-

| Nov. 29, 1977 || Silvers || Silverspur || Hi Early || McCormick || spur || stripe || 2 wk. before Hi Early || bright ||

|-

| Jan 30, 1979 || Craig || || Bright 'N Early || || spur || stripe || 2 wk. || darker, heavier ||

|-

| Aug 12, 1980 || Perleberg || Ace || Starkrimson or Oregon Red || || spur || stripe || 18 d. || bright but deep ||

|-

| Jan 19, 1982 || Garretson || || Starking || Carlton || <spur / dwarf || blush || || bright ||

|-

| Feb 2, 1982 || Green || Oregon Spur II⁶¹⁹⁰ || Oregon Spur || Wells & Wade || spur || stripe || 10 d. || dark ||

|-

| Apr 20, 1982 || Evans et al. || Scarlet Spur⁶¹⁹⁰ || Oregon Spur || Van Well || spur || blush || 2 wk. || red stem ||

|-

| Nov 9, 1982 || Coke&Smith || Super Clone^4926M || Starking || McCormick, Bountiful Ridge || spur, dwarfing || stripe || no change, late bloom || light ||

|-

| Nov 13, 1984 || Kemp || Top Spur⁵³³⁴ || Starkrimson || C&O || spur || stripe || 5-7 d. || deeper, brighter ||

|-

| Mar 26, 1985 || Hanners || Eve's Delight || Spokane Beauty || || stripe || || || light ||

|-

| May 21, 1985 || Jenkins || Jenred,⁵⁴⁷² Starkspur,⁵⁴⁷² Ultrastripe⁵⁴⁷² || Oregon Spur || Stark || spur || stripe || 15 d. || more consistent ||

|-

| Sep 3, 1985 || Hare || Hared,⁵⁵⁴⁷ Dixiered,⁵⁵⁴⁷ Starkspur⁵⁵⁴⁷ || Oregon Spur || Stark || spur || blush || 15-20 d. || dark ||

|-

| Oct 8, 1985 || Gonzalez || Rico⁷²³⁷ || Sharp Red || Merleley & al. || standard || stripe || 20 d. || ||

|-

| May 31, 1988 || Sandidge || Super Chief || Red Chief ||Van Well Nursery || spur || stripe || 18 d. || red stem ||

|-

| Mar 28, 1989 ||J. E. Valle, Washington, US || Vallee Spur⁶⁷⁰² || Red Chief || || spur || blush || 2 wk. || dark red with bloom ||

|-

| May 29, 1990 || Sali || Sali⁷²³⁷ || Redspur || || semi-spur || blush || "earliest" || purple tinge ||

|-

| Aug 4, 1992 ||Arden Winkel, Michigan, US || Earlichief || Redchief || Inter-Plant Patent Marketing || spur || blush || 5-10 d. || brighter ||

|-

| Mar 23, 1999 || Deutscher || Cumberland Spur^10,832 || Oregon Spur || || spur || blush || 10-14 d. || complete ||

|-

| May 4, 2004 || Burchinal || Adams Apple, Burchinal Red Delicious^14,757 || Oregon Spur II || || spur || blush || immediately || more uniform, deeper, purple, bloom ||

|}

In 1977, the application for #4159 noted the "starchy and bland taste of some of the newer varieties".

The plant patent for #4926 promoted the sport as a dwarfing interstock, a dwarfing rootstock for pears, or to produce "crab apple"-sized 'Delicious' apples.

Descendant cultivars

• Ambrosia: Golden Delicious × Starking Delicious (suspected)
• Braeburn: Sturmer Pipin × Red Delicious (a parent of Envy)
• Cameo: Golden Delicious × Red Delicious (suspected)
• Empire: McIntosh × Red Delicious
• Fuji: Ralls Janet × Red Delicious (a parent of Autumn Glory and EverCrisp)
• Kidd's Orange Red: Cox's Orange Pippin × Red Delicious (a parent of Gala, and grandparent of Jazz and Kanzi)
• Melrose: Jonathan × Red Delicious
• Sekai Ichi: Golden Delicious × Red Delicious (suspected)

References