A new peach cultivar 'Clown' in the steppe of Crimea

The cultivar 'Clown' was obtained by traditional breeding methods, selected in F-3 hybrid generation, which was developed at the Nikitsky Botanical Garden in Russia. The cultivar is self-fertile. It starts bearing fruits in a short period-as early as the second vegetation season, showing very good and regular fertility. It needs optimally balanced pruning and, in some years, fruit thinning should be carried out. Fruits ripen in the middle of July, 7-14 days before 'Red Haven'. The ripening fruit period is long. The fruits are very appealing and large. Their mean weight is 155.6 g and their size is 65x63 x64 mm. The shape is oblong-spherical. The basic color of the fruits is light yellow, the covering is bright carmine blush up to 60-90% of the fruit surface. The fruit skin is of medium thickness, it is slightly fuzzy and does not detach from the fruit flesh. The fruit flesh is yellow with a flesh texture that is melting, medium-dense, tender, juicy and sweet, with a slight acidity. The taste is balanced, estimated at 4.5-4.8 points. The stone is small, with a mean weight of 7.0 g, representing 4.5% share of the total fruit weight, clingstone. The cultivar is characterized by high yield, winter hardiness, excellent taste and good biochemical parameters of fruits. It adapted to the agro-climatic conditions of the steppe Crimea. The cultivar needs protection against Taphrina deformans, Clasterosporium carpophilum, etc. It is relatively stable to Spherotheca pannosa. 'Clown' is a universal cultivar, although prevails the dessert trend. The paper presents the pomological characteristics of the new commercial peach cultivar 'Clown'.