Cultivar 24: Wakpala

Wakpala is a hardy apple from N. E. Hansen's South Dakota breeding work. It was introduced in 1928 from a cross of Mercer wild crab and Tolman Sweet. Hansen's descriptions place it among the second crosses between standard apple and American wild crab, and say it is three fourths tame apple and one fourth wild crab. [S1] [S5] [S2]

Sources describe the fruit as about 2.5 inches, or roughly 5 cm, across. It is yellow with light red striping. The flesh is white, subacid, and notably fragrant. Hansen called the fragrance spicy sweet. Later notes also describe the fruit as highly fragrant and high quality. [S1] [S5] [S2]

Wakpala was valued more for kitchen use than for novelty. Hansen wrote that it cooks quickly into excellent light yellow sauce and that the slices hold their shape in cooking. It is also listed as a winter apple, and a South Dakota home fruit guide placed it among the long keepers. [S1] [S5] [S3]

The tree's cold climate reputation is tied to prairie use rather than to a stated modern zone rating. A South Dakota extension table recommended Wakpala in all three state fruit growing zones, including the northern plains part of the state. The Prairie Canada reference also lists it with a hardiness code, though the entry does not explain that code. A 1944 note reported a heavy crop, which suggests it could bear well under prairie conditions. [S3] [S2] [S5]

In the broader archive, Wakpala matters as one of Hansen's attempts to get better fruit quality from wild crab ancestry without losing northern toughness. Its Mercer wild crab x Tolman Sweet parentage shows that goal clearly: crab blood for endurance, standard apple blood for size, fragrance, and sauce quality. Separate index entries in Hansen material also use the name Wakpala for a grape, so references to Wakpala need to be checked by fruit type. [S1] [S5] [S6]

Summary source basis

• S1: New Hardy Fruits for the Northwest
• S2: Edible Apples in Prairie Canada
• S3: South Dakota Fruit Garden
• S4: Northern Plant Novelties for 1944
• S5: Northern Plant Novelties for 1945
• S6: Plant Introductions

This summary currently draws chiefly from New Hardy Fruits for the Northwest, with 5 additional supporting sources linked below.

Featured source descriptions

“Listed in the table of contents under "TAMING THE AMERICAN WILD CRABAPPLE" with entry page 18.”
— ^[1]

“Indexed entry likely to Bulletin 339, page 18; the reference is somewhat unclear in the scan.”
— ^[1]

“Indexed entry with reference to Bulletin 224, page 41.”
— ^[1]

“Listed with hardiness code CR.”
— ^[2]

Direct parent cultivars

• No direct linked parent cultivars promoted yet.

Parentage claim text

• Parentage is Mercer wild crab x Tolman Sweet apple.
• Listed as Mercer x Tolman Sweet.
• Pedigree: Mercer wild crab x Tolman Sweet apple.
• Its pedigree is given as Mercer wild crab x Tolman Sweet apple pollen.
• Pedigree: Merrimac x Beta.
• Pedigree given as Mercer x Tolman Sweet.

Derived or downstream cultivar links

• No derived or downstream lineage links yet.

Source-story quotations

• In 1939 the fruit was 2.5 inches across; color yellow lightly striped with red; flesh white subacid with spicy sweet fragranceNew Hardy Fruits for the Northwest, p16
• Nakpale (Mercer X Tolman Sweet) Hansen (1928) cR ... (Syn Wakapala.)Edible Apples in Prairie Canada, p72
• Nakpale (Mercer X Tolman Sweet) Hansen (1928) cR ... (Syn Wakapala.)Edible Apples in Prairie Canada, p72
• Cooks up quickly into excellent light yellow sauce; the slices retain their shape in co@kingNew Hardy Fruits for the Northwest, p16

Taxonomy context: No family-tree context surfaced yet.

Related cultivars mentioned in source context