Plumac

Found in 1998 as a chance seedling in a garden at Upper Moutere, Nelson; sold under the trade mark Koru

Plumac apples on sale in Auckland, New Zealand, under the trade mark Koru. Prosperosity, via Wikimedia Commons. Source; CC BY 4.0.

Origin: Upper Moutere, Nelson, New Zealand, 1998
Raised by: Geoffrey Plunkett
Parentage: Fuji × Braeburn Parentage unknown. The US patent names Fuji and Braeburn as probable parents, from their characteristics and their nearness to the seedling; a 2016 trade report has it growing from a discarded Fuji core. Not tested by DNA in the sources read.
Picked: March, in Waikato, New Zealand
Keeps: Four to five months in air storage, longer in controlled atmosphere (US patent)
Skin: Smooth; mottled, flushed and weakly striped with red over 85 to 95 per cent of the surface; a little russet around the stalk and eye
Flesh: Crisp, juicy and firm; slow to brown
Flavour: Sweet
Sold as: Koru (a trade mark)

History

Plumac was found in 1998 by Geoffrey Plunkett, as a chance seedling growing in a garden at Upper Moutere, Nelson^1,2. Its parentage is unknown: the patent names Fuji and Braeburn as probable parents, from their characteristics and from their nearness to the seedling¹, while a 2016 trade report has it sprouting from a discarded Fuji core³. Buds were first worked onto M9 rootstocks in the Waikato in 2002, and the trees have stayed true to type¹. Plunkett applied for a United States plant patent in March 2011, and it was granted on 26 February 2013¹.

After several years of testing, the variety was commercialised through McGrath Nurseries, its exclusive licensee in 2016; its name joins those of Plunkett and McGrath³. Its fruit is sold under the trade mark Koru^3,4. In March 2016 the nursery’s director, Andy McGrath, expected 75,000 to 90,000 cartons from that season’s New Zealand harvest, with 85 per cent of the crop committed to three marketers in the United States and the rest going to Asia³.

The fruit

The patent describes medium to large fruit, 7.3 to 7.9 cm across and 6.4 to 7.6 cm high, weighing 211 g on average; it is globose-conical, slightly lopsided and slightly crowned at the eye¹. The smooth skin is mottled, flushed and weakly striped with red over 85 to 95 per cent of its surface, with a little russet around the stalk and eye¹. The flesh is crisp, juicy and sweet, with 0.37 per cent titratable acidity, and slow to brown when cut¹.

Over 120 days in cold air storage at 1 °C its soluble solids rose from 13.1 to 14.7 per cent Brix and its firmness fell from 8.7 to 7.5 kgf¹. It keeps its quality for four to five months in air storage, and for much longer in controlled atmosphere, without bitter pit, scald, watercore or discolouration¹. In the Waikato it is picked from about 5 to 30 March; the patent puts its harvest 20 days before Fuji’s, 10 days before Braeburn’s and 7 days before that of Scifresh¹.

Growing

The tree is of medium to strong vigour, with strong, drooping to weeping branches that feather naturally, so that it is easily trained¹. It sets fruit well and bears every year on spurs and long shoots¹. It flowers in mid-season, from about 30 September in the Waikato¹. In the field it has shown some resistance to black spot, and it has grown and cropped well from the Waikato to Central Otago¹.

Where the sources disagree

Season. The patent calls Plumac a medium-season apple¹; the American Pomological Society’s register calls its fruit late-season².
Parentage. The patent gives Fuji and Braeburn as probable parents only¹; the 2016 trade report names Fuji alone, as the source of the core³.

Family tree

Parents, grandparents and great-grandparents, as the entries in the atlas record them.

Plumac New Zealand, 1998
- Parent Fuji Japan, 1939
  - Seed parent Ralls Janet United States, about 1800
  - Pollen parent Delicious United States, 1872
    - Parent Winesap United States, by 1817
- Parent Braeburn New Zealand, by 1952
  - Parent Delicious United States, 1872
    - Parent Winesap United States, by 1817
  - Parent Sturmer Pippin United Kingdom, by 1831
    - Pollen parent Nonpareil France, by the mid 1500s

Where Plumac came from. The lines lead to its parents: Fuji (Japan) and Braeburn (New Zealand).

Sources

US Plant Patent 23,418: Apple tree named 'PLUMAC', Geoffrey R. P. Plunkett; United States Patent and Trademark Office, via Google Patents, 2013-02-26. Supports: Plumac "discovered as a chance seedling in 1998 by the Inventor in a garden in Upper Moutere, Nelson, New Zealand"; parentage unknown, with Fuji and Braeburn "probable parents based on their characteristics and their proximity to the new cultivar"; first budded onto M9 in the Waikato in 2002 and true to type since; inventor Geoffrey R. P. Plunkett; filed on 25 March 2011 and granted on 26 February 2013; observations in the Waikato over six years: a tree of medium to strong vigour, drooping to weeping and naturally feathered, easily trained, with strong branches; "Some resistance to blackspot" in field observations; growing and cropping well from the Waikato to Central Otago; flowering mid-season, from about 30 September in the Waikato; good fruit set, bearing annually on spurs and long shoots; fruit medium to large, 7.3–7.9 cm in diameter and 6.4–7.6 cm high, 211 g on average, globose-conical, slightly asymmetric, slightly crowned at the calyx end; skin smooth, flushed, striped and mottled over 85–95%, weakly striped, with a small amount of russet around the stalk and calyx cavity; flesh crisp, juicy and sweet, weak browning, 0.37% titratable acidity; firmness 8.7 kgf, and 7.5 kgf after 120 days in refrigerated air at 1 °C; 13.1% Brix, and 14.7% after the same storage; retains quality for 4 to 5 months in air storage and "significantly longer" in controlled atmosphere, without bitter pit, scald, water core or discoloration; harvest "about March 5th to March 30th in Waikato", described as medium season; harvested 20 days earlier than Fuji, 10 days earlier than Braeburn and 7 days earlier than Scifresh.
Plumac, Fruit and Nut Cultivars Database (the Register of New Fruit and Nut Cultivars), American Pomological Society. Supports: "Large, sweet, firm, late-season fruit on a tree with weeping growth habit"; origin Upper Moutere, New Zealand, by G. Plunkett; chance seedling; US Plant Patent 23,418 of 26 February 2013.
New Zealand Plumac apple harvest "all sold already", FreshPlaza, 2016-03-31. Supports: Plumac "Licensed exclusively by McGrath Nurseries" and sold under the Koru brand name; a chance seedling that grew from a discarded Fuji core in Geoff Plunkett's garden in 1998, commercialised through McGrath Nurseries after several years of testing; the name a combination of Plunkett and McGrath; Andy McGrath, the nursery's director, expecting 75,000 to 90,000 cartons from the season's harvest in New Zealand, with 85% of the crop going to the United States, pre-committed to three marketers, and 15% to Asia.
International Standards for Fruit and Vegetables: Apples, pp. 49 and 57: Non-Exhaustive List of Apple Varieties, OECD Publishing, Paris (explanatory brochure on the UNECE standard for apples, FFV-50, 2020 version), 2021. Supports: a list whose fourth column gives known trade marks under which a variety may be marketed, "for information only", the first three columns being meant for varietal names and synonyms, not trade marks (p. 49); Koru given as the trade mark of Plumac (p. 57).