DOCHNAHL'S CLASSIFICATION.
SECTION I.—PLEUROIDEA.—Angular or Ribbed.
Having sharp or flat ribs, which extend over the length of the fruit and are most prominent around the eye, where they are most generally situated.
CLASS I.—MALA CYDONARIA—Quince-shaped.
ORDER I.—CALVILLES.
1. They have large heart-shaped cells, open towards the axis, or often entirely torn; the cells extend very often from the stalk even to the tube of the calyx.
2. They diminish from about the middle of the fruit, or a little above it, towards the eye.
3. They are regular, and provided generally with fine ribs, which do not disfigure the fruit.
4. On the tree, the fruit is covered with bloom.
5. They are never distinctly striped.
6. Their flesh is soft, loose, fine and light, of a balsamic flavor, similar to that of strawberries or raspberries.
7. The eye is frequently closed.
8. Many of them acquire by keeping an oily or unctuous skin.
Group I.—Fruit red, almost entirely covered with red.
Group II.—Fruit parti-colored; yellow; very much striped or washed with red.
Group III.—Fruit yellow; of a whitish, greenish, or golden yellow.
ORDER II.—PSEUDO-CALVILLES.
1. The cells are almost the same as the true Calvilles—very large and open.
2. The calycinal tube is wide and generally very short.
3. They are slightly narrowed toward the eye, and flattened toward the stalk.
4. Their ribs are very prominent, especially around the eye.
5. They are aromatic, and have not the balsamic flavor of the true Calvilles.
6. Their flesh is fine, opaque, a little succulent, and almost equal to the Reinettes.
Groups I., II., III., as above.
CLASS II.—MALA PYRARIA—Pear-shaped.
Their flavor is neither balsamic nor aromatic; they are purely sweet or acid; their flesh is granulous and loose.
ORDER I.—TREMARIA—Seeds Loose.
1. They are almost always large apples, the skin of which is neither unctuous nor covered with bloom.
2. They are also furnished with ribs; but they are not so regular as in the Calvilles.
3. The cells are very large, irregular, widened, and generally open.
4. The calycinal tube is most generally widely conical, and does not extend to the cells.
5. They are of a flattened, conical, cylindrical or pointed shape.
6. Their flesh is loose, more often a little coarse, and of a slightly balsamic flavor.
7. The leaves of these trees are very large, rather deeply dentated, and less downy than those of the Calvilles.
Group I.—Unicolores—Green, greenish, yellow, or golden yellow, and slightly tinged with red.
Group II.—Bicolores—Yellow or green, and distinctly striped or washed with red.
ORDER II.—RAMBURES.
1. They are all very large.
2. They have almost always the two halves unequal.
3. They are constantly broader than high, and appear sometimes higher than they are.
4. They are not furnished with ribs, except around the eye; these are often irregular in numbers, and frequently form broad projections on the fruit.
5. They do not decay, but shrivel when they have passed maturity.
6. The flesh is coarsely granulous, rarely aromatic, nevertheless often very agreeable.
Group I.—Capsulis amplis—Wide cells.
Group II.—Capsulis angustis—Narrow cells.
SECTION II.—SPHÆROIDÆ—Spherical.
They have sometimes prominences on the fruit and around the eye, but never true ribs.
CLASS III.—MALA MESPILARIA—Medlar shaped.
Their flavor is sweet, aromatic, similar to that of the Rose, fennel or anise.
ORDER I.—APIANA, or Rose Apples.
Their flesh is soft, loose, marrowy, very fine grain, and of a snow white color.
2. The cells are almost always regular and closed.
3. They are regularly ribbed around the eye, and often also over the fruit, but sometimes not at all ribbed.
4. They have a balsamic flavor, accompanied with a very agreeable odor.
5. They emit a pleasant odor when briskly rubbed.
6. When on the tree they are frequently covered with a blue bloom, and striped like a Tulip.
7. The fruit is mostly small, or middle sized.
8. They are mostly of short duration, and lose their good flavor the same year.
Group I.—Oblongi—Oblong fruit.
Group II.—Sphærici—Round or flattened.
ORDER II.—REINETTA—Reinettes.
1. These are apples which generally have the most regular and handsome shape, having the bulge in the middle, at the same distance from the eye as from the stalk.
2. All are dotted, clouded, or entirely covered with russet.
3. They are very rarely inclined to be unctuous, but generally rough when handled.
4. They all decay very readily; (they must therefore be left as long as possible on the tree.)
5. Their flesh is fine grained, crisp, firm, or fine and delicate.
6. They are all charged with only a balsamic, sugary acid, which is called Reinette-flavored.
Group I.—Unicolores.—1. Having uniform green ground color, which changes to the most beautiful golden yellow.
2. Having no lively colors or marks of russet on the side next the sun, except those that are very much exposed, and are slightly tinged with red.
3. Having no covering of russet, but only slight traces of russety stripes.
Group II.—Rubri—Fruit red; having all the properties of the self-colored Reinettes; but on the side next the sun they are of a red color, with a mixture of russet.
Group III.—Ravi—Russeted.
1. Their ground color is green, changing to dingy, dull yellow.
2. The coatings of russet are very conspicuous.
3. The side next the sun is often dingy, brownish, or ochreous red.
4. They all decay very readily.
Group IV.—Aurei—Yellow or golden fruit, Golden Reinettes.
1. On the side next the sun they are washed or striped with beautiful crimson.
2. The ground color changes, by keeping, to beautiful deep yellow.
3. Over the crimson there is a light thin trace, or a complete covering of russet.
CLASS IV.—MALA MALARIA—Perfect or Pure Apple-Shaped.
They are of a perfectly sweet or vinous flavor, approaching to pure acid.
ORDER I.—STRIOLA, or Striped.
1. They are almost always marked with broken stripes of red.
2. These are either over the whole fruit, or only indistinctly on the side exposed to the sun.
3. The stripes may all be distinct—that is, clearly and finely striped; or between these stripes, on the side next the sun, the fruit is dotted, shaded or washed with red; but on the shaded side the stripes are well defined.
5. The fruit does not decay, except when gathered before maturity, or after the period when it has been properly ripened.
Group I.—Depressa—Flat.
1. They have the bulge at the same distance from the eye as from the stalk, and are broadly flattened.
2. They are always half an inch broader than high.
Group II.—Acuminati—Pointed.
1. They are broader than high.
2. They diminish from the middle of the apple toward the eye, so that the superior half is conical, and is not at all similar to the inferior half.
Group III.—Oblongi—Oblong or cylindrical.
1. The hight and breadth are almost equal.
2. They diminish gradually from the base to the apex.
3. Or, from the middle of the fruit they gradually diminish toward the base and apex equally.
Group IV.—Sphærici—Round.
1. The convexity of the fruit next the base and the apex is the same.
2. The breadth does not differ from the hight, except only about a quarter of an inch.
3. When laid on their side they present a spherical shape.
ORDER II.—CONTUBERNALIA—Storing Apples.
1. Having the cells regular.
2. They are not striped, and are either of a uniform color or washed with red on the side next the sun.
3. They do not readily decay.
4. They are not unctuous when handled.
5. They are never covered with bloom.
Group I.—Acuminati—Tapering, diminishing toward the eye.
Group II.—Depressi—Flat. These are constantly broader than high.[47]
After a long and careful consideration and study of this subject, I have prepared the following formula for the Classification of Apples. It consists of four classes that are based upon the general figure of the fruit; with two orders, that are distinguished by a modification of the form, causing the fruit to be regular, or irregular, and angular. The characters upon which the classes are founded are exemplified by a vertical section through the length of the axis of the fruit. Those by which the Orders are distinguished are shown by a transverse section, made at right angles to the axis, or by holding the fruit with the blossom end toward the eye.[48]
Each of these Orders may contain two Sections, characterized by their flavor as sweet and sour; and each of these may again be sub-divided into three Sub-sections, that are based upon color.
Class I.—Oblate or Flat, having the axis shorter than the transverse diameter.
Order I.—Regular.
Order II.—Irregular.
Section 1.—Sweet.
Section 2.—Sour.
Sub-section 1.—Pale or blushed, more or less, but self-colored and not striped.
Sub-section 2.—Striped or Splashed.
Sub-section 3.—Russeted.
Class II.—Conical, tapering decidedly toward the eye, and becoming Ovate when larger in the middle and tapering to each end, the axial diameter being the shorter.
Orders I and II.
Sections 1 and 2.
Sub-sections 1, 2, and 3.
Class III.—Round, Globular or nearly so, having the axial and transverse diameters about equal, the former often shorter by less than one-quarter of the latter. The ends are often so flattened as to look truncated, when the fruit appears to be cylindrical or globular-oblate.
Orders, Sections, and Sub-sections, as above.
Class IV.—Oblong, in which the axis is longer than the transverse diameter, or appears so. These may also be truncate or cylindrical.
Orders, Sections, and Sub-sections, as above.