Apple Trees from Bernwode Fruit Trees. Old Traditional Varieties 2.

ANANAS REINETTE Syn. Pineapple Reinette. Thought to be from Holland, though mentioned by many European writers in the nineteenth century and widely grown. It was brought to England, from Metz, by Scott in 1872. The name was often anglicized to Pineapple Reinette. The fruit is small and oblong in shape, with golden yellow skin and russet markings. It is crisp and juicy, and by November has a distinct pineapple flavour. Can be used for dessert or cooking, when it keeps its shape. Good crops. Stores until January.

ANNIE ELIZABETH Also called Carter’s Seedling or The George. A late culinary apple, introduced by an amateur grower called Samuel Greatorex, of Knighton, Leicestershire, in 1857 and named after his daughter who died at 13 months. The large, sweet fruits keep their shape when cooked and need very little sugar. They will keep until April. The trees were once popular in ornamental orchards because of their striking deep pink and maroon blossom. George Bunyard and Owen Thomas (1904 The Fruit Garden) reported that the tree would keep hold of its fruit in windy weather. Free spurring and trees fruit when quite young.

ANNUAL SWEETENING An old Oxfordshire variety, unknown and unrecorded outside the area. The last remaining old tree is at least 94 years old, in the ownership of, and introduced to us by Mrs Olive Harris. Her family have lived at Lovegrove’s Farm, Fordwells, since 1836 and the minimum age of the tree was recorded by her grandfather, who died in 1915. It is a small dessert apple, pale golden yellow when ripe with many pale dots, evenly formed, rounded and slightly oblong. Ripe in mid to late September, it is sweet, firm and well flavoured. It can be stored to the end of November. We cannot ascertain the rootstock upon which the tree was grafted but it appears to be of modest vigour, though it crops well and regularly. Our thanks go to Mr and Mrs Harris for their help and dedicated conservation. They also have the last known old tree of Bamfairs –see later.

ANTONOVKA An old Russian apple originating at Kursk, first recorded in 1826 and known in Britain for at least a century. It is still grown in Europe and particularly in Russia. A mid-season dessert and culinary apple, large and ribbed, and ripe in September. The skin is a striking pale whitish-yellow with dots under the skin. The white flesh is crisp, juicy and perfumed, when first ripe, but becomes dry and soft when stored, lasting to November. It cooks to a tangy purée. Bunyard said it was of culinary use only and ‘hardly worthy of retention’, but it deserves a better reputation. A vigorous grower.

API ÉTOILÉ Known in France in the early 1600s and first noted in Britain in the catalogue of the London Horticultural Society in 1826, which called it just Etoilée. Hogg described it as a variety of Api, but with a very distinctive shape; the apples are unusually flat and with five prominent ribs, giving it a star (Etoilé in French) shape. Deep yellow skin in the shade, but orange-red in the sun. A good flavoured, sweet, dessert apple, ripe from the middle of September and storing into the new year. Both Scott, in 1872, and Barron in 1883 (when it was exhibited from Barham Court, Maidstone, Kent) described it as a small and pretty apple. It has not been noted in Britain since the 19th century, but has continued to be grown in Europe. We have now re-imported it from the Conservation Botanique, in France.

API NOIR A very dark form of the French Pomme D'Api, or Api, which probably dates back to around 1700. The small, sweet apples have a very deep red flush and stay crisp until spring. The striking colour made them popular for garlands and table decorations. The trees were often a decorative feature in gardens, where they were grown in pots, as low edges to beds and as cordons. They were valued for their pretty blossom and for the brilliant display of fruit, which is generously produced and hangs on the tree into the autumn. Can be stored until April.

ARD CAIRN RUSSET Introduced in 1890 by Hartlands of Ard Cairn, County Cork. Medium sized fruit of bright orange-red, with gold russeting. The fruit has firm flesh with a very rich flavour, which becomes even more intense after storage. It keeps until December.

AROMATIC RUSSET A spicy, richly flavoured dessert apple, which was certainly known in England by the mid nineteenth century and which became very popular. It was listed in the Aldby Park archive, discovered by Louise Wickham and sent to us, believed to have been written in the middle, possibly the first half of the 18th century, from known plant dates and the script style. It could be the planting list of Thomas Knowlton, who worked between 1725 and 1760 on various estates in Yorkshire, including Aldby Park. It was listed in the London Horticultural Society catalogues of 1826 to 1842. Medium sized fruit, greenish-yellow in colour, covered with silvery-brown russet and tinted tawny orange on the side near the sun. Small trees, which bear good crops. The fruit is ripe in October and will store until February.