Rossoshanskaya Krasivaya

Late-season variety selected by the Rossoshanskaya Zonal Experimental Station for fruit cultivation, obtained by crossing Tonkovetka Mliyevskaya with Lyubimitsa Klappa G. D. Neporozhny and A. M. Ulyanishcheva. Approved for use in the Central Chernozem, North Caucasus, and Lower Volga regions. Widely grown in southern areas of the Central Chernozem, primarily plantings from the 1980s-1990s.

Trees are vigorous, narrowly pyramidal in youth, becoming broadly pyramidal when fruiting. Moderate crown density due to weak branch production. Bark of the trunk is dark gray; scaffold branches are reddish-brown, vertically arranged. Fruit set is mixed — on spurs, shoots, and terminal buds of last year's growth.

Shoots are reddish-brown, straight, and long. Buds are elongated, pointed, with brown scales. Leaves are upward-pointing, medium-sized, green, shiny.

Inflorescence — a rounded panicle, with a large number of flowers. Buds are pinkish-white; flowers are white, bowl-shaped, medium-sized, with stigma stigmas at the level of the anthers.

Fruits are medium-sized, weighing 115-120 g, elongated-pear-shaped, uniform. Surface is smooth. Skin is thin. Main color is whitish-yellow with green subcutaneous spots; covering color is dark red, diffuse, intense, over most of the fruit. Peduncle is medium or long with a fleshy swelling at the base. Receptacle is small and wrinkled. Calyx is open. Seeds are elongated, medium-sized, brown.

Flesh is yellowish, juicy, tender, slightly acidic-sweet. Fruit appearance is very attractive (4.6 points); flavor is good (4.0 points). Chemical composition: dry matter content — 12.4%, sugar content — 9.40%, titratable acidity — 0.17%.

In southern Central Chernozem, fruit ripens for harvest in mid-August, and the consumer ripening period lasts one month.

Fruits remain firmly attached to the tree until maturity. Fruit transportability and marketability are high. The variety is suitable for general use, producing high-quality compotes rated 4.5 points.

Begins fruiting on the 6th-7th year after grafting in nurseries. Partially self-fertile; this may explain its high yield: 70-80 kg/tree or 250 centners/ha on average over 14 years of observation. Highest recorded yield was 1000 centners/ha.

Winter hardiness of trees in southern Central Chernozem is high. Mild freezing damage (1-1.3 points) at -32...-34°C occurred during winters of 1976 and 1980. Significant freezing damage was not observed in northern Voronezh or Orlov regions. Drought resistance is moderate, manifesting as fruit shriveling during insufficient watering. Spring frosts during flowering in 1999 (down to -6°C, May 2-7) and in 2000 (down to -2°C, May 2-20) damaged all flowers, resulting in no yield. The variety is resistant to diseases. In southern Voronezh region, it is not affected by scab. In Orlov region, it is affected moderately. In epidemic years, it suffers from septoria.

Advantages of the variety: high yield, versatility of fruit use.