Excelsior

Malus domestica Borkh. Borkh.

Culinary

Origin

Excelsior, Minnesota, United States

Measured Phenotype

Fruit height: 76.5 mm
Fruit width: 84.0 mm

Each value is the highest-precedence :Assertion attached to this cultivar; full provenance (year, evidence type, confidence) is preserved in the graph.

Excelsior is a large crabapple originating from a cross of Wealthy with Cherry Crab and Oldenburg. The fruit is attractive and versatile for both dessert and culinary use, with firm, crisp, juicy flesh and a mild subacid flavor with Siberian crab notes. A hardy, strong-growing tree that comes into bearing young and produces abundantly in alternate years, ripening in early September.

Flavor & Texture

subacidmildfirmcoarse_grainedcrispjuicy

Best Uses

dessertcooking

1 historical watercolor from the USDA Pomological Watercolor Collection (1886–1942) included in the gallery above. Public domain.

Lineage

Parents

Wealthy Cherry Crab Oldenburg

Origin & History

Status: commercial
Origin type: deliberate cross
Original breeder: Peter M. Gideon

subacid

References

UK National Fruit Collection: 1925
Wikidata: Q41776872