25th October 2009
I have been researching ancient apple varieties for some years now for various reasons. My main concentration has been on apples of the medieval period in England pre-1500's, although the occasional one from France, Germany and other places/times 'snuck' in. Apples have been cultivated in England for 1,200 years, ever since the Roman's brought them to the area. Many of the varieties are so close to going extinct and stock can be difficult to find. I have been in contact with many different historical orchards all over the world to get information and potential 'seed stock' for these varieties. I am slowly narrowing it down to 5-8 varieties (and required pollinators -- although one which I will probably get, the "White Pearmain", which is a vigorous, self fertile variety which also serves as a great pollinator for other apple trees) for me to grow when I am ready to establish an orchard again. I do not have complete information on each variety I have listed, but as I learn more, I add more.
On my apples I always try for naturally disease and scab resistant trees, ones which tend to be heavy croppers, are good storage apples and multi-purpose for my needs. I am leaning towards some on this list. I am still on the search however.
As I was learning and researching about ancient apples (and pears), it was horrific how many varieties all over the world are now extinct forever, such as the Costard apple variety. In 1900 in the United States alone, there were over 5,000 varieties of named apple trees, now there is less than 1,000. If you are considering planting fruit trees, try to make a point of helping preserve these wonderful parts of our agricultural heritage from all over the world and go out of your way to plant some of these marvelous fruits.
Especially at this time of the year, seek out historical orchards and many of them will allow you to taste test, U-pick, already picked or they have apple juice/cider pressings to sample. I have found such an orchard south of me and one day soon I will be going to sample and take pictures of the different apple types for documentation (and maybe even order some tree stock). If you are looking for such an orchard near you, contact your local orchard society. Most states and countries have one (or more).
Here are a few of the varieties that I have researched that sound interesting to me:
Akero
Origin: Sweden, 1600's or 1700's
Season: Harvest: Late August
Description: One of the oldest Swedish apples, still popular in Sweden.
Firm, coarse. Sweet to subacid dessert apple. Akero is a town in Sweden
Api Etoile (Also known as: Star Lady)
Origin: Switzerland, 1600s
Season: Harvest: Late season
Description: Very unusual oblate (flattened) shape looking like a rounded
star from the end. A little larger than the Lady apple. Excellent flavor:
aromatic with sufficient acid and a sweet fruity taste.
Aromatic Russet
Origin: England
Season: Harvest: October, Season: November - January
Description: Bright red, netted with russet. Flavor sweet-sharp
and intense.
Ashmead's Kernel
Origin: Gloucester, England, 1720
Season: Harvest: mid-October, Season: December - February
Description: Old late season apple of excellent flavor and
highest quality. Bright green-yellow fruit flushed orange with light cinnamon russeting. Sweet, slightly acid and highly aromatic flavor. Crisp, juicy flesh.
Bietigheimer (Beitigheimer, Red Bietigheimer) -
A very old, very large and colorful apple
of German origin. Bietigheimer was first described in Europe in 1598, where it
was known as Roter Stettiner.
Blenheim (Also known as: Blenheim Orange, Rosy
Blenheim, Woodstock Pippin)
Origin: Blenheim/Woodstock, England, 1740
Season: Harvest: October, Season: October - January
Description: Large yellow fruits flushed red with fine russeting. Flesh
firm, crisp and subacid, fine textured with characteristic nutty flavor.
Tree Characteristics: Susceptible to scab but mildew resistant with heavy
rainfall. Slow to come into full bearing but a good cropper. Triploid
Calville Blanc d'hiver
France Approx 1598
Noted for unusual
looks (somewhat lumpy on the side) but excellent reward when tried. Noted for
having unusually high vitamin C content. Apple of choice for tarte tatin in
France.
Calville Rouge d'Automne
Origin: France 1670
Description: Large, with characteristic ribbed shape. Skin pale red with a
tinge of yellow. Sweet, slight strawberry or vinous flavor; tender, juicy flesh.
Good fresh and for baked apples, keeps its form with a smooth creamy texture.
Carmeliter Reinette
Origin: France, 1667
Season: Harvest: November, keeps into winter
Description: Medium-sized, golden fruit flushed red and russeted. Sweet and
aromatic.
Catshead
(Catshead, Cathead Greening, Round Cathead)
England c. 1600
Sharp flavor. Lumpy shape and electric green coloring. Known to have been a
variety planted in early Virginia by
settlers as well as native England. Extremely rare in native UK; occasionally
still found growing in Southern U.S.Cathead - This is a very old
English cooking apple first mentioned in literature from 1629. It was once
widely sold by Virginia nurseries until the early 1900's, but was certainly
grown throughout Virginia for decades before then. Supposedly resembles a cat’s
head when viewed in profile, but this feature is variable. A very large round
apple with greenish-yellow skin. Good for cooking and drying. Ripens September.
Court Pendu Plat
Origin: Europe 1613 (probably Roman)
Description: Name derived from Corps Pendu, referring to the shortness of
the stem. Skin is greenish-yellow becoming flushed with orange-red with short
broken stripes. Rich, aromatic fruit with a good balance of sugar and acid.
Tree Characteristics: A good cropper. Suitable for areas with late spring
frost because it blooms very late and is cold hardy.
Duchess (Also known as: Duchess of Oldenburg)
Origin: Russia, 1700, introduced into England c. 1815
Season: Harvest: August; Season: September
Description: Good cooking apple, fair eating apple. Beautiful, medium to
large sized greenish yellow with bright red stripes, splashes and russeted dots.
Flesh fine, firm and juicy. flavor tart, brisk and refreshing, first class.
Keeps for only a few weeks.
Tree Characteristics: Tree is very hardy and vigorous, early and abundant
bearer. Disease resistant.
Fenouillet Gris
First
described 1608 (as d'Epice d'Hiver).
Five Crowned Pippin
1500's
Golden Reinette
(Golden Rennet, English Pippin, English Golden Reinette,
Kirke's Golden Reinette, Reinette Golden, Yellow German Reinette)
Europe 1600
Old dessert apple known in England since the 1600's. Attractive yellow skin
flushed and streaked red, partly covered and dotted with russet. Yellow flesh is
compact, crisp, and firm with a pleasantly sweet-subacid flavor. Scab resistant.
Gravenstein (
Banks Red Gravenstein, Early Congress)
A very old apple of European origin
Believed to have originated in the 1600's with Duke Augustenberg of Castle
Graefenstein ( Gravenstein) in Germany. It was introduced into the United States
in the 1820's by Russian settlers moving into California. An oblong or lopsided
fruit having bright yellow skin with a pinkish-orange flush and light red
striping. The creamy yellow flesh is tender, crisp, juicy, and aromatic. Ripens
July to August in most areas and is not a good keeper.
Harvey
One of the oldest English
culinary apples,
Harvey was first mentioned in 1629 by John Parkinson, a fruit
enthusiast who recognized the importance of different fruit varieties. It was
named for Dr. Gabriel Harvey, Master of Trinity Hall, Cambridge. Fruit is large,
oblong-conical and occasionally irregular or lop-sided. The slightly textured
skin is yellowish-green with a reddish-brown blush. The creamy white flesh is
firm, dry and fine-grained with a rather acid flavor. Ripens September to
October.
Keswick Codlin
Origin: England, First recorded 1793
Season: Harvest: August - September, Season: September - Oct
Description: Large, green-yellow fruit, sometimes with a faint blush. Fine,
tart flavor.
Tree Characteristics: Heavy cropper.
Lady
(Christmas Apple, Api) France 1600
Traditionally this apple was used in Christmas decorations and stockings,
hence the name Christmas Apple. Small, smooth, creamy yellow fruit with glossy
red cheek, borne often in clusters. Crisp, juicy, fine-grained, pure white
flesh. This is a highly aromatic variety with much of its fragrance and high
quality flavor in its skin; for this reason, it should not be peeled. Makes
excellent cider.
Bloom: Late
USDA Zone: 5,6,7,8,9,10
Pollination: Required
Fruit Storage: Excellent
Mature Size: Small
Ripens: Very Late
Uses: Fresh eating/ dessert, juice/hard cider
Margil - GOING EXTINCT!
Origin: England or France, introduced in
1750
Season: Harvest: early October, Season: October - December
Description: Medium to small, slightly conical fruit. Orangish red skin with
dark red stripes over gold russet patches. Always russeted on one side. Firm,
sugary, yellow flesh. Intensely flavored, rich, aromatic, deep cream flesh.
Irregularly ribbed shape.
Tree Characteristics: Small tree suitable for a small garden. Light cropper.
Margaret
(Early Margaret, Early Striped Juneating, Striped June) -
A very
old variety originating in England and sold in the South for many years as
Striped June or Early Striped June. Margaret is characterized by its small to
medium size with an oblong to slightly conical shape. The skin is yellow with
dark red striping concentrated most at the stem end. The crisp, white flesh is
tender, juicy, and quite flavorful for an early season apple. Ripens June to
July.
Muscat de Bernay
France
Hard cider apple of the bittersweet type from Normandy. Originated around the
commune of Bernay, the site of Benedictine Abbey.
USDA Zone: 5,6,7,8,9
Pollination: Required
Fruit Storage: Fair
Mature Size: Large
Ripens: Midseason
Uses: Juice/hard cider
Muscadet de Dieppe
Origin: Normandy, 1750
Season: Harvest: September
Description: Excellent cider apple. Orange-red, smallish fruit. Sweet and
aromatic.
Orleans Reinette
Origin: France, 1776
Season: Harvest: October, Season: November- January
Description: Yellow-green with light russeting, reddish on the sun side.
Flesh is creamy white, firm and fine-textured and very juicy with a taste first
of sweet oranges followed by a nutty flavor.
Tree Characteristics: Tree of moderate vigour, very hardy, good cropper.
Best in warm location.
Pearmain
is the oldest
English apple name. It was recorded in a Norfold document of 1204
Pigeonnet Rouge
Known in
late 1600's.
Porter's Perfection
Origin: England
Season:
Harvest: November
Description: English cider apple. Cream coloured, flushed dark red.
Bitter-sharp cider blending quality.
Tree Characteristics: Tree vigorous, heavy cropper, tends to biennial
bearing.
Reinette Gris Du Canada
Origin: France prior to 1771
Season: Late season
Description: Medium size apple, pale green skin with a russet coat and first
white flesh. Sharp, dry, sweet, crisp texture and flavor. Excellent keeper.
Ribston Pippin (Ribston, Reinette
Grenade Anglaise, Travers Pippin)
Origin: Yorkshire, England 1769
Season: Harvest: September , Season: October - Jan
Description: Yellow, flushed bright orange, red blush. Hard, crisp,
fine-grained, sugary, rich and aromatic. A very high quality English
dessert apple first discovered at Ribston Hall near Knaresborough, Yorkshire. It
is believed to have originated from seeds brought into England from Rouen,
France in 1688. In 1962, it received the Award of Merit from the Royal
Horticultural Society. It is described by Morgan and Richards as the most highly
esteemed Victorian dessert apple. Fruit size is medium to large with unequally
large ribs giving the apple an irregular shape. Skin is greenish-yellow flushed
with brownish-orange and numerous red stripes. The flesh is pale yellow, rich,
firm, and juicy. Ripens September to October.
Royale d'Angleterre
First
mentioned 1665; in existence 1895
Royal Russet (Also known as: Brown Russet)
Origin: England,
1567
Harvest: late October - November, Season: October - Mar
Description: Large and characteristic russet skin is brown with a
greenish-yellow undercast. The yellow flesh has a sweet, nut-like flavor.
Tree
Characteristics: The tree is a vigorous annual bearer, resistant to scab and
mildew.
Scarlet Crofton
Unknown;
discovered before 1600.
Sops of Wine
Origin: England 1832
Season: Ripens early to mid season Description: Old English culinary
and cider apple. Fruit medium, skin greenish yellow flushed purple red. Flesh
soft, fine stained pink. Flavor aromatic, subacid, vinous.
Summer Rambo
(Also known as: Rambour Franc, Lorraine, Rombour d'ete. No relation
to "Rambo")
Origin: France, 1535
Season: Harvest: September, Season: September - November
Description: Attractive, large, brightly striped, red fruit. Breaking,
crisp, exceptionally juicy flesh. Subacid, aromatic flavor.
Tree Characteristics: vigorous tree bears heavily and early. Some disease
resistance.
Sweet Alford
Origin: England.
Harvest: October - November Description: Fruit
small-medium, pale yellow blushed pink. Sweet, juicy flesh. High quality.
Tree Characteristics: Tree moderately vigorous, spreading.
White Joaneting
is an
English apple known before 1600 when it was called the Jenneting
White Pearmain
England 1200 A.D.
Oldest known English apple. The fruit is medium in
size, uniform in shape, and possesses light green skin, usually flushed red on
one side. The mildly sweet and pleasantly aromatic flesh is firm, fine-grained
and crisp; an excellent dessert apple. A vigorous, self-fertile variety that
also serves as a great pollinzer for other apple trees. White Pearmain is a
vigorous tree well adapted to coastal districts out west.
Bloom: Midseason
USDA Zone: 5,6,7,8,9,10
Pollination: Self-fertile
Fruit Storage: Excellent
Mature Size: Large
Ripens: Very Late
Uses: Fresh eating/ dessert, cooking (puree, applesauce, apple butter),
baking, juice/hard cider
Yarlington Mill
Origin: England
Season: Harvest: late October - early November
Description: High quality
English cider apple. Firm, medium-sized fruit. Sweet to slightly bittersweet.
Tree Characteristics: Tree moderately vigorous, a heavy cropper.