Vegetable Cultivar Descriptions for North America – Rhubarb

Lists 1-27 Combined

Edited by Todd C. Wehner, Jeanine M. Davis and George B. Cox

Department of Horticultural Science
North Carolina State University
Raleigh, NC 27695-7609

Alberger – Breeder: Mr. Alberger, Busleton, Pa. Vendor: Eastern States Farmer Exchange, West Springfield, Mass. Parentage: unknown. Characteristics: short neck, flat globe shape, reddish top, pale yellow flesh, small tap root, early maturity. Similar: Early Neckless. Adaptation: northeastern United States. Eastern States Coop. 1946.

Canada Red – Vendor: St. Lawrence Nurseries. Characteristics: introduced in Canada; very popular cultivar; stems shorter and more slender than many seedling types, but very tender with high quality and good red color.

Cherry Red – Vendor: Gurney’s. Characteristics: cherry-red color and tart taste with oversized stalks.

Chipman’s Canadian Red – Vendor: Gurney’s. Characteristics: bright red color that holds up after cooking, sweeter than most cultivars, dependable yields.

Crimson Red – Vendor: Gurney’s. Characteristics: one of the best cultivars for flavor, tall stalks, dependable producer.

Glaskin’s Perpetual – Vendor: Seeds-by-Size. Characteristics: bright red color, can be pulled the first year after sowing.

Honeyred – Breeder and Vendor: A.J. Porter, Honeywood Nursery, Parkside, Saskatchewan, Canada. Parentage: MacDonald · Early Sunrise. Characteristics: stalks crisp, firm, mild; quality equal to Canada Red; same size and vigor as MacDonald; takes less sugar than most; external and internal color deeper red than MacDonald; fewer seedstalks at Parkside than any other red rhubarb tested there; susceptible to a crown rot on heavy soils. 1971.

Jersey – Breeder: New Jersey Agr. Expt. Sta., New Brunswick. Vendor: Clarence Steelman, Princeton, N.J. Parentage: Macdonald x Sutton’s Seedless. Characteristics: upright habit of growth; unusual vigor; reasonably good color; long broad petioles; fine flavor; requires less sugar. N.J. Hort. Soc. News, Feb. 1955.

Large Victoria – Vendor: Seeds-by-Size. Characteristics: can be pulled the first year after sowing.

Macdonald – Vendor: Burpee. Characteristics: excellent flavor, bright red color, tender skin.

Ruby – Breeder: Canada Dept. of Agriculture, Central Experimen-tal Farm, Ottawa, Canada. Parentage: selected from ‘Victoria’. Characteristics: stalks numerous; not as strong a grower as MacDonald, averaging 41.5 cm and 56 g in tests in New Brunswick (Agriculture Canada, Buctouche), 1982–84; Color rich ruby red, exterior redder than MacDonald and Canada Red, interior redder than MacDonald but less so than Canada Red, Sunrise and Valentine; tartness rated same as MacDonald when cooked – moderately tart, much more tart than Canada Red; color when cooked is superior to MacDonald, Canada Red, Sunrise and Valentine. Resistance: prone to numerous seed stalks and very susceptible to red leaf disease (Erwinia rhapontici). 1927.

Sunrise (Early Sunrise) – Breeder: Experimental Station, Canada Dept. Agriculture, Kentville, Nova Scotia, Canada. Parentage: Derived from ‘Ruby’, open–pollinated. Characteristics: Large, vigorous variety; stalks much thicker than ‘Ruby’; quick to produce seedstalks; very satisfactory for forcing. Similar: to MacDonald but with much better red color. 1946.

Valentine – Breeder and vendor: Hort. Expt. Sta., Vineland Station, Ont., Canada. Vendor: Burpee, Gurney’s. Parentage: open pollinated seedling of Macdonald. Characteristics: brilliant red color with deep red flesh; high quality; absence of seed stalks; specially suitable for freezing; good rosy color when cooked, broad stalks 22″ long, superb flavor. Similar: Macdonald. Adaptation: wide. Hort. Expt. Sta. Rpt. 1945.

Victoria – Vendor: Lonestar, Mellinger, Seeds-by-Size. Characteristics: large green stalks, late forcing cultivar.

Waltham Yellow – Breeder: R.E. Young, Waltham Field Sta., Univ. of Massachusetts, Waltham. Vendor: Brecks. Parentage: yellow variant of White Cape. Characteristics: green shoulders. Similar: American Purple Top. Adaptation: New England. 1947.