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US Plant Patent PP9060

Columnar apple tree -- Obelisk variety

PUBLIC DOMAIN

Patent expired January 10, 2014. This plant is in the public domain — anyone may propagate and sell it.

No term adjustment or disclaimer is recorded against this patent, so this is the full statutory term — twenty years from the filing date.

The record

Patent number
PP9060
Filed
January 10, 1994
Granted
February 21, 1995
Expires
January 10, 2014
Inventor
TOBUTT KENNETH R

No cultivar name of record

This patent does not name the plant, which is unusual for its date — by the mid-1990s nearly every plant patent carried a cultivar name. The grant identifies this one by its number and by a written description instead.

Nothing here is missing from our records: the patent itself states no name. Where one exists we show it, and we do not invent one.

Abstract

A new and distinct variety of apple tree having weak to medium vigor is provided which exhibits a columnar growth habit that generally resembles a vertical pole. The new variety resulted from a cross between a plant designated A1583 that was produced by the crossing of the COX'S ORANGE PIPPIN and COURT PENDU PLAT varieties (non-patented in the U.S.) and the WIJCIK variety (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 4,382). Flowers form later than on the other varieties of columnar apple trees. The new variety forms attractive small to medium sized fruit having a yellow ground color with a high level of red-purple overcolor. The overall appearance is a rich maroon red with some light green or yellow coloration depending upon the degree of ripeness. The fruit configuration is somewhat asymmetric and generally is regular, flat-round to round. The fruit flesh is white and generally remains crisp and rather brisk until the end of the calendar year when properly stored. The harvest date typically is early October. The fruit commonly can be cold-stored until April while present in a ambient atmosphere.

Show the legal claimThe single numbered claim as granted — the legal text that defines what this patent covers.

I claim: 1. A new and distinct variety of apple tree having the following combination of characteristics: (a) exhibits a columnar growth habit, (b) commonly exhibits weak to medium vigor which is more than that exhibited by the TELAMON and CHARLOTTE varieties, and less than that exhibited by the TUSCAN variety, (c) flowers later than other previously available columnar apple varieties, (d) forms attractive small to medium sized fruit having a yellow ground color with a high degree of somewhat striped rich maroon red overcolor that commonly can be cold-stored until approximately April while present in an ambient atmosphere, and (e) commonly exhibits an early October harvest date; substantially as herein shown and described.

Read the full patent: US Plant Patent PP9060 in full — the complete specification, every figure, and the file history.