On the other hand, Arkansas black should be relatively easy to find in USA. An old american variety, well tested and reliable.
Fortunately, you can get grafts of several different black apples, instead of trying your luck with seeds
. There are a few places that sell unusual apple varieties, but my favorite one is
http://bighorsecreekfarm.com/master-variety-list/. Searching their list for 'black', I see 7 varieties pop up. I've purchased several trees from them.
Newgen: I'm also in a zone 9b, but we manage to grow apples here rather well. We get close to ~900 chilling hours every year, which is enough for most apple trees. I'm currently growing 3 varietals, and my neighbor is growing many more than that. If you're interested in growing unusual apples, there are some that support a lower number of chilling hours. If you're going for sweet, check out the 'golden sweet', which is likened to biting into honey. Same with the 'husk sweet.'