Knowledgebase

What kind of apple tree is this? #889631

Asked November 10, 2024, 8:22 PM EST

My daughter bought a house in St Paul that has an apple tree that is about 35 feet tall. It had tons of apples on it which started falling in late July and just finished in the last week or so. We have no way of knowing what variety of apples they are, but delicious for fresh eating and make great apple sauce that needs no added sugar. How can we go about identifying the sort of apples they are? See photos. A strange characteristic is that they start to smell fishy when stored in the refrigerator. Thanks, Mary PS. I suspect the tree is quite old.

Ramsey County Minnesota

Expert Response

Definitively identifying an apple variety can only be done by genetic testing. However, you may be able to narrow things down without testing,  by comparing ripening time and appearance to other known apples.  I’ve included links below for genetic testing, as well as information from the University of Minnesota on this very topic! DNA testing of apples:
https://myfruittree.org/welcome

https://fps.ucdavis.edu/dnamain.cfm

List of common MN apples and characteristics

https://drive.google.com/file/d/10q6jmDCNv4UEtReBHiUBaORTYx-XjmEO

https://mnhardy.umn.edu/apples/varieties

Rebecca Replied November 10, 2024, 10:38 PM EST

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