IDENTIFICATION OF APPLE VARIETIES 65 



Outline. — The outline oi tlie leaf iiiuy vary in different varieties in two 

 ways: in relative length and width, and in the width of the base and apex. 

 Winter Banana (Fig. 12) is relatively long and narrow, while Baldwin (Fig. 

 4) is relatively short and broad. An example of the second type is found in 

 comparing Wolf River (Fig. 3), which is narrow at the base and apex, wftli 

 Mcintosh (Fig. 2), which is broad at the base and apex. This difference is 

 especially valuable in distinguishing between Oldenburg (Fig. 20) and 

 Wealthy (Fig. 21), the former being much broader at the base and apex than 

 the latter. 



Tip. — The narrow tij) called the jioint is of some value, being larger and 

 more slender in some varieties, usually those- with a narrow apex, than in 

 others. 



FoldiiKi. — Various tyi)es of bending and folding appear in the leaf blade. 

 The blade may be flat as in Gravenstein (Fig. 6) and Wealth}' (Fig. 21), or 

 it may be folded to a greater or less degree as in Baldwin (Fig. 4) or Grimes 

 (Fig. 17). The latter two varieties exhibit different types of folding, being 

 broad and saucer-shaped in the Baldwin, and nnicli narrower and more pro- 

 nounced in the Grimes. Leaves of a given variety may show this character 

 in varying degree according to condition: the folding is more pronounced in 

 periods of dry, sunny weather than it is during cloudy or rainy periods. 

 Jonathan, as shown in Fig. 29, shows only moderate folding, but at times it 

 may show very pronounced folding, — sometimes more than any variety il- 

 lustrated here. Nevertheless, it is a most valuable character in the identifica- 

 tion of varieties. Tlie peculiar saucer-shaped folding of the Baldwin is al- 

 ways seen in greater or less degree in a considerable proportion of tlie single 

 leaves on the tree, and with one or two other jieculiarities will ser\e to dis- 

 tinguish this variety. 



Next there is the bending or waving of the leaf edge. Flat leaves do not 

 often show this, although it appears quite noticeably in Oldenburg and 

 Wealthy, neither of which is folded very much. Some folded leaves are very 

 distinctly waved, as Grimes (Fig. 17) and Yellow Transparent (Fig. 28); 

 while others show it little or not at all, as Baldwin (Fig. 4) and "Winter 

 Banana (Fig. 12). 



A third type of bending or folding of the leaf blade is seen in tlie liending 

 backward or reflexion of the midril). Pronounced reflexion of the midrib is 

 not common in flat leaves, but is the usual thing in stronglj' folded leaves if 

 the folding is of the narrow type. Thus Baldwin (Fig. 4.) and Gravenstein 

 (Fig. 6) are not reflexed, while Grimes (Fig. 17) and Rome Beauty (Fig. 16) 

 are strongly reflexed. 



Serrations — Probably the most dependable leaf character for identifying 

 varieties is the nature of the serrations along the edge of the leaf. They are 

 sharp in Rhode Island Greening (Fig. 18) and dull in Wolf River (Fig. 3) 

 and Wealthy (Fig. 21). Other varieties are intermediate between these ex- 

 tremes, but every variety is peculiar to itself and different from other vari- 

 eties. In Rhode Island Greening the serrations are distinct or well separated, 

 while in Gravenstein (Fig. 6) and Baldwin (Fig. 4) they are set close to- 

 gether or indistinct. They vary in depth also; and in some varieties they are 

 straight, as in Rhode Island Greening, while in Baldwin they are often slight- 

 ly curved or sickle-shaped. The last peculiarity, together with saucer-shaped 

 folding referred to above, serves to distinguish Baldwin from all other com- 

 mon varieties known to the writer. If one leaf is laid upon another so that 



