Citalia

Citalia produces medium-large, beautiful pale yellow apples with pink blush. The fruit, ripening in late early season, is quite sweet with a nice fruity flavor and very good texture. The fruit has a short storage life, although it keeps better than its parent Silken. Citalia trees bloom extremely early, bear fairly annually, and are of moderately high vigor. Citalia fruit and trees are susceptible to pretty much everything, although the fruit appears resistant to summer rots. This cultivar is  suitable for conventional production.

Pros: Gorgeous, nice-sized fruit and consistent cropping. It is a great replacement for Silken, being in the same season with better keeping quality.

Cons: Disease susceptibility; same season as Honeycrisp; stiff, upright branches can be a little challenging to train; sometimes stem bowl russet runs down the side of the fruit.

Recommendations: Specialty and retail growers who want a beautiful alternative to Honeycrisp in the same season and who are prepared to aggressively manage scab and rust and a relatively short storage life

Origin: Citalia arose from a small batch of hand pollinated seed. There were about 50 seedlings, and many interesting selections resulted from this cross. Citalia was selected for its great beauty and very enjoyable flavor and texture. It was named for the star Citalia.