Cultivar 520: Anis

Anis is an old Russian apple cultivar. Prairie and northwestern sources describe it as a small-to-medium dessert and kitchen apple with pale yellow skin washed or striped red.[S1] [S2] [S3] Prairie references connect it with Dr. Wm Saunders in 1888, but these sources do not show whether that date marks introduction, listing, or wider circulation rather than original breeding.[S1]

Sources from Prairie Canada and older northwestern apple literature place Anis in Russian fruit circles and treat it as part of a broader Anis group with several related names and mixed material.[S1] [S2] One early committee note said the group was too small-fruited for milder districts, but still kept at least one Anis type for very cold regions because of exceptional hardiness and blight resistance.[S2]

The fruit is described as roundish oblate to oblate conic, small to medium, with a light green to pale yellow ground color and a red wash or striping on the sun side.[S1] [S2] The flesh is fine or tender, juicy, greenish white, and mildly subacid, with fair to good quality.[S1] [S2] Season reports differ: one prairie bulletin gives October to December, while an earlier northwestern source gives September and October.[S2] [S3]

Prairie descriptions call the tree vase shaped, hardy, and productive.[S3] Another prairie source says it is a strong stem builder despite narrow crotches, tends to be dwarfing, and has collar rot noted.[S1] Fruit drop is also mentioned in the older northwestern description.[S2]

Hardiness is the clearest reason Anis stayed in circulation. Prairie references list it among apples grown or described for prairie conditions, and one directory assigns it hardiness code H3, meaning borderline hardy.[S1] [S3] The older northwestern discussion also treats the Anis group as material for very cold latitudes.[S2]

Anis matters less as a polished modern dessert apple than as part of the Russian hardy apple stream that fed prairie and northern fruit culture.[S1] [S2] The record here shows a cultivar remembered for hardiness, utility, and structural value in the orchard as much as for fruit quality.[S1] [S3]

Summary source basis

• S1: Edible Apples in Prairie Canada
• S2: A Study of Northwestern Apples
• S3: TreeFruitsGrownInPrairieOrchards WRLeslie 1946 HQ

This summary currently draws chiefly from A Study of Northwestern Apples, with 2 additional supporting sources linked below.

Featured source descriptions

“Listed within the Anis group with multiple associated names or numbers: No. 317, White Pigeon (spurious), 984, Kursk Anis, Red Anis, 32 M, Russian Green, Blue Anis, Yellow Anis, Pink Anis, Striped Anis, and Getman's Bean, 225.”
— ^[2]

“Cavity broad, deep; stem short; basin broad, irregular, angular; calyx medium, closed; core open.”
— ^[2]

“Collar rot noted.”
— ^[1]

“Marked ST.”
— ^[1]

Direct parent cultivars

• No direct linked parent cultivars promoted yet.

Parentage claim text

• No direct breeding_cross claim text yet.

Derived or downstream cultivar links

• No derived or downstream lineage links yet.

Source-story quotations

• Anis (Old Russian cv) Saunders (1888) Fruit small to medium, pale-yellow washed red.Edible Apples in Prairie Canada, p15
• Anis (Old Russian cv) Saunders (1888) Fruit small to medium, pale-yellow washed red.Edible Apples in Prairie Canada, p15
• Anis (Old Russian cv) Saunders (1888) Fruit small to medium, pale-yellow washed red.Edible Apples in Prairie Canada, p15
• A NIS GROUP. Anis; No. 317; White Pigeon (spurious); 984, Kursk; Red Anis; Russian Green; Blue Anis; Yellow Anis; Pink Anis; Striped Anis. DESCRIPTION: Anis-Size, 4 to 5; form, roundish oblate, angular; color, light green, striped with red in sun; cavity broad, deep; stem short; basin broad, irregular, angular; calyx mA Study of Northwestern Apples, p24

Taxonomy context: No family-tree context surfaced yet.

Related cultivars mentioned in source context