Fruit

CORTLAND came out of the New York State Experimental Station in 1898 and is a cross of Ben Davis and McIntosh. It was introduced commercially as a dessert apple in 1982, and there are a number of strains. The skin is a dark-red with a dusky-blue cast over a yellow background color, and may be more than half blood-red with crimson overlays. Sometimes, dark red stripes may show. The flesh is fine-grained, very juicy, tender and white, and it is slow to oxidize on exposure to air. The vigorous tree begins to bear early and is an annual bearer that is highly productive. It hangs on the tree well after ripening. The tree grows tall upright and spreading with dark red bark on old wood. The leaves are flat, with the midrib a reverse curvature, and the tips a clear, light-green color with a dull, rough surface. Ripening begins about 130 days after full bloom, which is the late September in the Mid-Atlantic States.