Spartan (apple)

The Spartan is an cultivated variety or cultivar of apple developed by R. C Palmer and introduced in 1936 from the Federal Agriculture Research Station in Summerland, British Columbia, now known as the Pacific Agri-Food Research Centre - Summerland.^[1] The Spartan is notable for being the first new breed of apple produced from a formal scientific breeding program.^[2] The apple was initially believed to be a cross between two North American cultivars, the McIntosh and the Newtown Pippin, but subsequent genetic analysis revealed that the Newtown Pippin was not one of the parents. The identity of this parent remains a mystery. The Spartan is considered a good all-purpose apple.^[3] The apple is of medium size and has a bright-red blush, but can have background patches of greens and yellows.^[4]

'Spartan'
Genus	Malus
Species	Malus pumila
Hybrid parentage	McIntosh × Unknown
Cultivar	Spartan
Origin	Summerland, British Columbia, 1936

Disease susceptibility

• Scab: high^[5]
• Powdery mildew: high
• Cedar apple rust: high
• Fire blight: medium

Sports and descendants

• 'Hunter Spartan', a tetraploid form of 'Spartan'

Gallery

• 
  apple from Chernihiv (Ukraine), 2014
• 
  green - they grew in shadow
• 
  Hunter spartan
• 
  apples in a basket. Ukraine, Vinnytsia Oblast, 2018

See also

• List of Canadian inventions and discoveries
• Ambrosia (apple)
• Jubilee apple
• McIntosh (apple)