Ralls Janet

'Ralls Janet'
GenusMalus
SpeciesM. pumila
Cultivar'Ralls Janet'

'Ralls Janet' is an apple cultivar that is also known by many other names.[1] It has been used extensively in modern apple breeding, and has several commercially important offspring.[1][which?] It was grown at Monticello by Thomas Jefferson.[2]

It has been said that the name derives from Edmond-Charles Genet, a Frenchman who gave cuttings to Jefferson, who then passed them on to Virginia nurseryman Caleb Ralls, but this claim, cited here from 1905, was not made until about 100 years after the apple became known and may not be accurate.[3]

In 1871, Dr. William Howsley reported that Caleb Rawles [sic] introduced the variety in 1795 as the Genet Apple.[4]

  1. ^ a b "Ralls Janet", National Fruit Collection, University of Reading and Brogdale Collections, retrieved 18 October 2015
  2. ^ Hatch, Peter J. (1998). The Fruits and Fruit Trees of Monticello. United States: University of Virginia. ISBN 0-8139-1746-8.
  3. ^ Beach, S.A.; Booth, N.O.; Taylor, O.M. (1905), "Ralls", The apples of New York, vol. 1, Albany: J. B. Lyon, pp. 270–272
  4. ^ William Howsley (1871). "Report of Dr. Howsley on Nomenclature of Apples". Proceedings of the 13th Session of the American Pomological Society.