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Junaluska Apple Descriptions
The Junaluska descriptions below reflect the exact wording from the historic nursery catalogs and texts from the mid to late 1800s.
Medium Apple Listings
JUNALASKEE — Medium, roundish, oblate, skin greenish yellow; flesh yellow, rich and sub-acid; ripe November to February.
Description from Willow Lake Nursery, Marshallville, GA (1887 catalog)
JUNALASKEE -- Medium, oblate, roundish, skin greenish yellow, flesh yellow; juicy tender and sub-acid. Ripe November to January.
Mill Creek Nursery, Marshallville, GA (1894 catalog)
Medium to Large Apple Listings
Junaluskee — Originated in NC, roundish oblate, medium to large size; yellow blushed color; flesh: medium juicy and yellow color; rich sub-acid flavor; quality: good to very good; use: dessert and kitchen; ripens late.
Nomenclature of the Apple by W. H. Ragan (1905)
Junaluskee, Junaliska, Journalaskia — Origin, North Carolina. Tree moderately vigorous, spreading. Young shoots dark brownish, slightly downy. Fruit medium to large, roundish oblate, yellow, lightly shaded on the sunny side, and sprinkled with brown and gray dots. Stalk short. Cavity large, a little green russet. Calyx small, closed. Basin abrupt, nearly smooth. Flesh yellowish, rather compact, moderately juicy, rich, sub-acid. Good to very good. Core small. November to March.
The Apple by A. J. Downing (1878)
Large Apple Listings
Junaluska (Southern) — Fruit large; shin yellow; flesh juicy, sub-acid, good.
Forest Nursery, Fairview, KY (1870 catalog)
JUNALUSKEE — Large, globular, skin , yellow, with brown russet, sub-acid. November to March.
Fruitland Nursery, Augusta, GA (1857 & 1858 catalog)
Junaluska — This apple originated in the Cherokee country, where it is highly esteemed, and fruited in Ohio and Kentucky this year. Fruit large, roundish or flattened, slightly conic, regular; Surface smooth, yellow, with some russet, chiefly about the apex; sometimes blushed; Dots minute, gray. Basin rather small, regular; Eye small, long, closed. Cavity deep, acute, brown; Stem quite short, knobby. Core wide, heart-shaped, regular, closed; Axis short; seeds few, short, plump; Flesh yellow, breaking, granular; flavor sub-acid, spicy, rich; Quality good; Use, table and kitchen; Season November, and through the winter. It may be destined to supply the place of the Rhode Island Greening, where that variety does not succeed.
American Pomology:Apples by John A. Warder (1867)
JUNALUSKEE — Fruit large, yellow, nearly covered with dark russet, juicy, tender and of a sprightly sub-acid flavor; October and November.
Peachwood Nurseries, State Line, MS (1878 catalog)
Very Large Apple Listings
JUNALUSKEE—Fruit very large, inclining to conic; skin fine yellow, speckled with dark russet; flesh yellow, with a sprightly rich, sub-acid flavor. November to March. A magnificent apple. Origin, North Carolina.
Langdon Nurseries, Mobile, AL (1888 catalog)
Junaluskee — A magnificent apple from the orchard of Stephen Whitaker, Esq., of Cherokee Co., N. Carolina. It is of an irregular globular form with numerous warts of russet color upon it. It is of a dull yellow color, much speckled with dark russet, marbled and spotted with pale red on the sunny side; flesh yellow, juicy, tender, rich and of a pleasant mild acid flavor. Size from large to very large, sometimes weighing from one to one and a half pounds; stem half an inch long and fleshy; cavity quite small and dark green within; calyx of common size in a small smooth basin. Ripens in November and keeps until March. Quality best.
Magazine of Horticulture (1857)
Note: There is one thing perplexing about the Junaluska descriptions, it is the wide size range mentioned - from medium to very large. Several possible explanations could include the following:
- There could have been more that one apple called Junaluska, for instance one Jackson County historic orchard list included a Junaluska Valley apple.
- The larger Junaluska apples mentioned could have been one of the several pound apples in the area.
- The very large size could have been an exaggeration, for instance in 1800s historic sales situations, desirable qualities such as size, blushing, elongation, etc are sometimes found to have been exaggerated when the actual apple is discovered.