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Flushing Spitzenburg
type: Cooking, Dessert, Pie
synonyms: Black Spitzenburg, Flushing, Flushing Spitzenburgh, Ox Eye (this is used as a synonym for the Newtown and Esopus Spitzenburg), Spitzenburg Flushing. Often listed as Newtown Spitzenburg (please see Newtown Spitzenburg ). Listed as Vandervere of New York with the synonym Newtown Spitzenburgh by Charles Downing in his 1865 update of A.J. Downing’s “The Fruit and Fruit Trees of America.”
summary: This variety of Spitzenburg grown along the Flushing Creek in the same area and around the same time as the Esopus Spitzenburg which it closely resembles. It was thought to have disappeared, but has been relisted.
identification: Medium tending to large, round and slightly conic with tough, smooth skin. The base colour is green which is completely washed with deep red with streaks of darker red on the sun exposed face. Some base colour shows through on the shaded face over which are broken stripes and some blushes of lighter red. Light grey lenticels are abundant over the whole apple. The stem is medium length and set in a deep, russetted cavity. The calyx is small to medium and often partly open, set in a narrow, shallow basin which is often lightly plaited.
characteristics: The flesh is light green sometimes with red streaks, coarse-grained tender, juicy and sweet with very little acidity.
origins: Emerged in the area of Flushing, New York (U.S.A.) in the late 1700s in the area where Newtown Spitzenburg was already being widely grown. First described by James Thatcher in his "The American Orchardist" (published in 1822) stating that "There are three sorts : The Esopus; Flushing; and the Newton." "The is generally larger, and of a deeper red colour, fovered with small white specks; its form is flatter, and it is of a more acid taste than the ." It was also mentioned by William Kenrick in "The New American Orchardist" (published in 1844) , by A.J. Downing in his 1845 edition of "The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America" as well as by John Warder in "American Pomology: Apples" (published 1867), as several others. In "The Apples of New York" (published 1905) S.A. Beach stated "This variety probably originated in America. Although it has long been known in cultivation it is not regarded favorably by commercial orchardists and is now seldom planted." The unanswered question is whether the the Flushing Esopus was a chance seedling or a mutation of another Spitzenburg. In either case, the variety almost disappeared until a number of trees were found in 2017 in an old apple orchard near Rathdrum, Idaho (U.S.A.).
cultivation: Vigorous, large, dome-shaped/spreading tree. Biennial crops, bearing medium harvests.
cold storage: Keeps for about two months in cold storage.
ploidism: Diploid. Self sterile.
cold storage weeks: 8
hardiness: 5
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