McIntosh (apple)
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| Malus domestica 'McIntosh' |
|---|
 "McIntosh" on a tree |
| Hybrid parentage |
| Unknown |
| Cultivar |
| 'McIntosh' |
| Origin |
 Morrisburg, Ontario, Canada, 1811 |
The McIntosh Red (or McIntosh, colloquially "Mac") is an apple cultivar with red and green skin, a tart flavor, and tender white flesh. It becomes ripe in late September. It is traditionally the most popular cultivar in New England and Eastern Canada, well known for the pink sauce unpeeled McIntoshes make. It is a superior eating apple and well suited for applesauce, cider, and pies. It is extremely common to find this particular cultivar packed in children's lunches across North America owing to its small to medium size and longstanding reputation as a healthy snack.
Every McIntosh apple has a direct lineage to a single tree discovered in 1811 by John McIntosh on his farm in Dundela, a hamlet near Morrisburg, in Dundas County, Ontario. He discovered the tree as one of several apple seedlings while clearing the farm, which he had just purchased, for first use. He transplanted the seedlings, cultivated them, and one of them was noted for its superior fruit.
The Snow Apple, also known as Fameuse, is believed to be a parent of McIntosh. Offspring of the Mac include, among many others, the firmer Macoun (a Jersey Black cross), Spartan (recorded as a Newtown Pippin cross), Cortland, Empire, Jonamac, maybe Paula Red, Jersey Mac.
The McIntosh was also reportedly the source of the name of the Macintosh computer.[1]
In an episode of Get Smart titled "Too Many Chiefs" (1965), KAOS master impersonator Alexi Sebastian, pretending to be The Chief, tricks Maxwell Smart with a false new code sign: "I say Apples and you say McIntosh." [2]
External links
- The BSA McIntosh Apple Development Poster
- Ontario Heritage Foundation
- Ontario Plaques - John McIntosh
- United States Patent PP12863 - MacIntosh apple variety named `Miriela`
- Vermont Apples
References
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