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Jonamac apple

Medium size, firm fruit with 90% dark red color over greenish background. Flesh firm, crisp, high quality with flavor similar to McIntosh.

USDA identification images for Jonamac

The identification paintings in the USDA Pomological Watercolor Collection span the years 1886 to 1942.

    Citation: U.S. Department of Agriculture Pomological Watercolor Collection. Rare and Special Collections, National Agricultural Library, Beltsville, MD 20705.

    Parents and other ancestors of this variety


    Offspring of this variety


    Visitor reviews

    • 15 Nov 2019  NY, United States
      My family bought a pound of jonamacs from a tiny fruit stand in Pennsylvania on a road trip. The farmer recommended them and we took a chance. They were the best apples we had ever tasted! We still talk about the bunch of apples to this day.
    • 27 Sep 2013  WA, DOUGLAS, United States
      very good earing, Flavor does not reflect parentage, has its own unique flavor, breaking flrsh , juicy. Nice appearance but not exceptional, tendency for prehaevest drop. If not satisfied with your present preferred apple, this is a must try.
    • 03 Oct 2012  TX, United States
      More like a Mac than Johnathan, I think, but a touch sweeter. Delicious eaten out of hand. It didn't last long enough for me to tell if the very white flesh would brown! Very nice.
    • 28 Oct 2011  WI, United States
      After raving about Cortland for years, I just found my new favorite apple, consistently even better than Cortland -- Jonamac. It tastes almost exactly the same as Cortland, but it might be slightly more tart, not quite as soft (but pretty close), more juicy, and a more shiny and beautiful looking apple than Cortland. It also has an aftertaste that is like honey -- delicious! The one disadvantage it has compared to Cortland is it turns brown like a normal apple and does not stay pure white for a long time -- but who really cares! Delicious.
    • 14 Jul 2011  NY, United States
      The flavor can be described as crisp, freshly firm and almost a cinnamony/nutmeg spicy undertones. Spicy is the best way to describe it. Its an umami Macintosh. Very savory, its hard to eat just 1. On first bite you'll think, "What is that flavor? Yum.". Probably one of the more under appreciated apples in the New York orchards, picked less due to seasonal overlap, but tastes superior to Macintosh As an everyday eater and lunch apple, its highly recommended. Marginal cooking apple, but OK if mixed with Cortlands to provide some zip. 4 out of 5 rating, this would be an outstanding apple if it kept longer, keeps a measly 2 weeks on the counter, and just over 2 months in the fridge. Not a "next year" apple in storage.

    Tree register

    United States

    Canada

    Harvest records for this variety

    2013 season

    • 3rd week October  2013  - tree owned by Craig in Manning, United States

    Origins

    • Species: Malus domestica - Apple
    • Parentage: McIntosh x Jonathan
    • Originates from: United States
    • Introduced: 1944
    • Developed by: Roger D. Way, New York State Agricultural Experiment Station
    • UK National Fruit Collection accession: 1974-059

    Identification

    • Country of origin: United States
    • Period of origin: 1900 - 1949
    • Flesh colour: White
    • Fruit size: Average
    • Fruit shape: Round
    • Fruit shape: Flat-round
    • Fruit size: Variable

    Using

    • Picking season: Mid
    • Flavour quality: Very good
    • Flavour style (apples): Sweet/Sharp
    • Flavour style (apples): Sweeter
    • Flavour style (apples): Aromatic
    • Flavour style (apples): Honeyed
    • Flavour style (apples): Strawberry

    Growing

    • Flowering group: 4
    • Bearing regularity: Biennial tendency
    • Fruit bearing: Spur-bearer

    Where to buy fresh fruit

    The following orchards grow Jonamac:

    United States




    References

    • Cedar-Apple Rust  
      Author: Stephen Vann, University of Arkansas, Division of Agriculture (FSA7538)
      Rated as resistant - control only needed under high disease pressure.

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