THE STEM 



CHARACTERS OF THE SKIN 



The terms used in describing shapes of apples 

 and pears are applicable to the quince. Many 

 oomologists describe quinces as either apple- 

 shaped or pear-shaped. 



A graphic record should accompany a de- 

 scription of the fruit, to show size and shape. 

 A simple outline drawing serves the purpose. 



The stem. 



Varying as little as any other character of 

 the apple or pear, the stem is much used in 

 identification. It may be long and slender, 

 as in the Rome Beauty apple or Bosc pear; 

 short and thick as in the Sutton apple and 

 Cornice pear; fleshy as in the Peck Pleasant 

 apple and Louise Bonne pear; clubbed when 

 enlarged at the end; and lipped when the 

 flesh forms a protuberance under which the 

 stem is inserted, as in the Pewaukee apple. 

 The stems of pears are often set obliquely, as 

 in Clairgeau; or are crooked or curved, as in 

 Howell. The stems of some pome-fruits have 

 distinguishing colors; those of others are 

 pubescent. In some pears, as Bergamot d'Es- 

 peren, there are bud-like projections on the 

 stem. The length of the stem in apples and 

 pears is a reliable diagnostic character only 

 when it is known from what part of the flower- 

 cluster the fruit was developed. For, as a 

 rule, the nearer the flower to the center of the 

 umbel in the apple, and the tip of the raceme 

 in the pear, the shorter the stem of the fruit. 



Cavity and basin. 



The cavity, the depression in which the stem 

 is set, offers several marks which greatly en- 

 hance the value of a description of any of the 

 pomes. It may be acute or obtuse; shallow, 

 medium, or deep; narrow, medium, or broad; 

 smooth or russeted; furrowed, ribbed, angular, 

 or uniform; or it may be lipped as described 

 under stem. The color of the skin within the 

 cavity is sometimes different from that with- 

 out, and there may be radiating lines, rays, 

 or streaks. 



The basin, the depression in which the calyx 

 is set, is as important as the cavity in classify- 

 ing pomes, and is described by the same 

 terms. The furrows in the basin are some- 

 times indistinct and are then called wavy. 

 The skin around the calyx-lobes may be 

 wrinkled, plaited, folded or corrugated. Rarely, 

 there are fleshy protuberances about the calyx- 

 lobes, as in the Delicious apple and Siberian 

 crab-apple, called mammiform appendages. 



Calyx-lobes. 



The withered calyx-lobes persist in some 

 pomes and not in others. They persist in the 

 common apple and are deciduous in P. bac- 

 cata; persist in European pears, deciduous in 

 the edible-fruited Asiatic species; persist in 

 the common quince, deciduous in the Japanese 

 quince. The calyx-lobes may be open, partly 

 open, or closed in varieties of the fruits in 

 which they are persistent. In some varieties 

 of apples the segments are separated at the 

 tase; in others, united. The lobes may lie flat 

 on the fruit or may stand erect. When up- 



right, if the tips incline inward, the lobes are 

 said to be connivent; if inclined outward, they 

 are re flexed or divergent. The lobes may be 

 broad or narrow, with tips acute or acuminate. 



Characters of the skin. 



The skins of pome-fruits offer several most 

 valuable features for classification, color being 

 the most important. Perhaps no character of 

 fruits varies more in accordance with environ- 

 ment than the color, yet the color itself and 

 the way in which it is distributed on the fruit 

 serve to make this character a fairly safe dis- 

 tinguishing mark for most varieties of pome- 

 fruits. The ground-color of apples, pears, and 

 quinces is the green or yellow-green of chloro- 

 phyll, usually with an over-color of tints and 

 shades of yellow or red. The over-color may 

 be laid on in stripes, splashes or streaks; or 

 as a blush ; it may mottle the surface, or may 

 be a single color, in which case the fruit is said 

 to be self-colored. 



The skin may be thick or thin, tough or 

 tender. In a few varieties of apples it is rela- 

 tively free from the flesh, but with most clings 

 tightly. The surface of the skin may be cov- 

 ered with a delicate white substance called 

 the bloom, Mclntosh furnishing a good ex- 

 ample of an apple with a bloom. In other 

 varieties the skin is waxy or oily, as in Lowell 

 and Tompkins King apples. This character 

 must not be confused with waxen, which re- 

 fers to the glossy appearance of the skin of 

 such apples as Winter Banana and Maiden 

 Blush. 



Some apples and pears have an unbroken 

 russet surface, as Roxbury Russet apple and 

 the Sheldon pear. Or the surface may be 

 rough because of minute russet dots or netted 

 veins. In many apples the cavity alone is 

 russeted, as in Pumpkin Sweet. If the russet 

 of the cavity is spread out in radiating lines, 

 it is said to be radiating. 



In some apples a suture-like line extends 

 toward the apex from the base, Tolman Sweet 

 furnishing an example. 



With varieties of all of the pome-fruits, note 

 should be made of the presence and character 

 of pubescence about the calyx. In the quince, 

 the whole surface is covered with woolly 

 pubescence, which must be described. 



Nearly all apples and pears have few or 

 many dots on the skin, notes on which may 

 enhance the value of a description. These 

 may be obscure or conspicuous, large or small, 

 raised or sunken. If visible under the epider- 

 mis, they are said to be submerged. When 

 star-like, they are called stellate. If sur- 

 rounded by a halo of lighter color, they are 

 said to be areolar. In some varieties of apples, 

 the dots are much elongated. 



The .roughened outer skin, called scarf-skin, 

 gives a distinguishing appearance to a few 

 apples. The scarf-skin runs outward from the 

 base of the apple in lines or stripes on Pump- 

 kin Sweet, Green Newtown, and some other 

 varieties. This scarf-skin gives a dull appear- 

 ance to some red apples, as Sweet Winesap and 

 Black Gilliflower. 



