Apple: Ballerina Flamenco

Considered the best available from the Ballerina family of columnar apples, it boasts a sharp sweet flavour, typical of modern dessert apples.

• Vigour: Medium
• Precociousness: Low (commonly flowers 2-3 years after grafting)
• Resistances: None noted
• Size of fruit: Normal
• Flowering: Midseason
• Fruiting: Midseason
• Cropping: Light
• Ploidy: Diploid (?)
• Fruit colour: Red (noticeable lenticels)
• Flesh colour: White
• Leaf colour: Green
• Parentage: McIntosh Wijcik x (Court Pendu Plat x Cox's Orange Pippin)
• Descendants: None noted
• Biennialism: None observed
• Growth habit: Columnar
• Self-fertile: No

The Ballerina Flamenco (occasionally sold as "Obelisk"), was created by R. Watkins and K. Tobutt at the East Malling Research Station in 1992 and is part of a family of modern columnar apples, who derive their columnar nature from the sport mutation of McIntosh known as the "McIntosh Wijcik" via the "Co" or "Compact" gene.

The Columnar growth habit creates tall, slender, trees that need little space, and are highly amenable to small backyards, and potted orchards, requiring little to no pruning, and little to no staking.

Though considerably more developed than it's columnar ancestor, as well as being noted as the best of the Ballerina family, it is considered by many growers to be uninspired, lacking complexity in flavour, and leaning towards a standard "red apple" flavour.