Anis

An old Volga folk apple whose clones bear small, bloom-dusted red fruit; Anis Polosaty has an anise-like scent

History

Anis is an old local apple of the Volga region, raised by folk selection, and in Russia it is regarded as a variety type made up of clones¹. VNIISPK counts Anis Polosaty (Анис Полосатый), also called Anis Sery (Анис Серый), among its representatives, and describes Anis Aly (Анис Алый) as a clone of Anis Polosaty with brightly coloured fruit^1,2. Both entered the Russian State Register in 1947, for regions from the North-West to the Urals^1,2. The N. I. Vavilov All-Russian Institute of Plant Genetic Resources (VIR), whose collectors gathered old local apples in the Middle and Lower Volga in the 1960s–80s, keeps sixteen Anis accessions at its Volgograd station³.

By the 1880s Anis apples were on trial in North America. In 1886 T. H. Hoskins wrote that “the Anis family of apples are all small, round, more or less completely red, of more or less good dessert quality and of varying season”, and that Pink Anis and Red Anis were “the leading market apples on the upper Volga”, on trees he called “doubly iron-clad”⁴.

Anis Sverdlovsky is a different, later variety, raised by L. A. Kotov at the Sverdlovsk horticultural station from Anis Purpurovy and Melba and registered in 2002⁵. Anis is also a synonym of Fenouillet Gris, a French apple with an aniseed flavour first described in 1608⁶.

The fruit

Anis Polosaty is medium-sized or a little smaller, strongly flattened and round or slightly conical¹. Its light green skin carries a dull, speckled and striped blush on a pink ground over half or more of the fruit, under a heavy bluish bloom¹. The flesh is white, tinged green, fine-grained, juicy and sweet-sour, with a distinctive anise aroma¹. Anis Aly is often turnip-shaped, with a dense dark red blush over most or all of the fruit².

Anis Polosaty is a winter apple in central and north-western Russia and the Middle and Upper Volga, an autumn one in the middle of the Lower Volga and a summer one in its south¹. In the Lower Volga Anis Aly is picked at the end of August and keeps for up to a month in a cellar².

Growing

Anis Polosaty is vigorous, starts to bear five or six years after planting and gives 250–300 kg a tree at 20 to 25 years; in good conditions the trees live for 100 years or more¹. It is very winter-hardy and tolerant of drought and heat, highly resistant to black canker and moderately resistant to scab and powdery mildew¹. Anis Aly bears from its fourth or fifth year, yearly at first and later biennially, but stands drought and heat less well and suffers more from powdery mildew than from scab².

Uses

Both are eaten fresh. Anis Polosaty is also soaked, dried and made into wine¹, and Anis Aly into juice, jam, pastila and dried apples².

Where the sources disagree

Anis Polosaty and Anis Sery. VNIISPK treats them as one variety¹; the VIR collection lists them as separate accessions, Anis Polosaty as a local Volga variety and Anis Sery as an old Russian one³.

Sources

Apple: Anis Polosaty (Anis Sery) (in Russian), All-Russian Research Institute of Fruit Crop Breeding (VNIISPK), Orel, variety catalogue. Supports: the names Анис Полосатый and Анис Серый; an old, valued local variety of the Volga region, of folk selection, considered one of the representatives of the variety type of Anis clones; in the State Register since 1947 for the North-Western, Central, Volga-Vyatka, Middle Volga and Ural regions; vigorous trees; fruit medium or somewhat smaller, a little larger than Anis Aly, strongly flattened, round or slightly conical; light green with a dull, speckled and striped blush on a pink ground over half or more of the fruit, under an intense bluish bloom; flesh white, greenish, fine-grained, juicy, sweet-sour, with a distinctive anise aroma; a winter apple in central and north-western regions and the Middle and Upper Volga, an autumn one in the middle Lower Volga and a summer one in its south; highly transportable; eaten fresh and used for soaking, drying and wine; bears from the fifth or sixth year after planting, 250–300 kg a tree at 20–25 years; trees can live 100 years and more; very high winter hardiness and drought and heat tolerance; high resistance to black canker and medium resistance to scab and powdery mildew; small fruit and short keeping in the lower Volga as faults.
Apple: Anis Aly (Anis Barkhatny, Anis Safyanny, Anis Krasny) (in Russian), All-Russian Research Institute of Fruit Crop Breeding (VNIISPK), Orel, variety catalogue. Supports: the name Анис Алый; widespread north and east of the Volga region; a clone of Anis Polosaty with brightly coloured fruit; in the State Register since 1947 for the North-Western, Volga-Vyatka and Middle Volga zones; fruit medium or a little smaller, strongly flattened, often turnip-shaped, light green with a dense dark red blush over most or all of the fruit and a thick bluish bloom; flesh white, slightly greenish, juicy, fine-grained, pleasantly sweet-sour; 9.6% sugars and 0.65% acids; a summer apple in the Lower Volga, picked at the end of August, keeping up to a month in a cellar and longer in a refrigerator; eaten fresh and made into juice, jam, pastila and dried apples; bears from the fourth or fifth year, annually at first, then biennially; 200–300 kg a tree; fairly winter-hardy in the Lower Volga but weak in drought and heat; fairly resistant to scab, more susceptible to powdery mildew; long-lived trees.
Genetic diversity of apple varieties of folk selection (Malus × domestica Borkh.) of the Volga region from the VIR collection by NBS profiling (in Russian), A. A. Trifonova and others, Genetika 57 (6): 661–673, 2021. Supports: VIR, the N. I. Vavilov All-Russian Institute of Plant Genetic Resources; old local varieties gathered by VIR collectors in the Middle and Lower Volga in the 1960s–80s and kept at VIR's Volgograd experimental station; sixteen Anis accessions in Table 1; Anis Polosaty (k-21627) listed as a local Volga variety and Anis Sery (k-21630) separately as an old Russian variety.
The Iron-Clad Tree Fruits, pp. 17–20, in Agriculture of Maine: Twenty-ninth Annual Report of the Secretary of the Maine Board of Agriculture, T. H. Hoskins, Maine Board of Agriculture (Sprague & Son, Augusta); Maine State Law and Legislative Reference Library, 1886. Supports: Russian apples on trial in North America, judged in Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Quebec; Russian apples falling into families whose members look alike but differ in season; "the Anis family of apples are all small, round, more or less completely red, of more or less good dessert quality and of varying season"; Pink Anis and Red Anis "the leading market apples on the upper Volga", their trees "doubly iron-clad".
Apple: Anis Sverdlovsky (in Russian), All-Russian Research Institute of Fruit Crop Breeding (VNIISPK), Orel, variety catalogue. Supports: a late-autumn variety of the Sverdlovsk experimental horticultural station from a cross of Anis Purpurovy and Melba, by L. A. Kotov; in the State Register since 2002 for the Volga-Vyatka and Ural regions.
Fenouillet Gris (accession 1948-482), National Fruit Collection, Brogdale, Kent (Defra). Supports: "Originated at Anjou, France. It was first described in 1608"; an aniseed flavour; synonyms including Anis, Anisapfel and d'Anis.