We set out on a month's quest to locate and identify apple trees planted by the pioneers in the San Bernardino mountains of Southern California between 1875-1925. We found about 200 trees of around 12 varieties, most of which we were able to identify. However, this one has us and the local apple growers stumped.
It's a big (3-4"), lumpy greenish-yellow apple with a red blush on the sunny side and faint red stripes. The apples pictured aren't as colored as the rest on the tree which are more yellow, but the birds had gotten the ripe ones. The flesh is white, coarse, and sweet with good flavor and some tartness. They keep well but get greasy in storage.
The tree is old, 80-100 years or more. It is the last survivor from an old orchard.
Thanks for your help.
Applenut
[/code]
Aw, come on you guys...this post has been up for a couple weeks now. Doesn't anybody want to at least give a wild guess? I thought you guys were good!
I'll even give you another piece of info. I've documented that at the turn of the century most of the scionwood in our So. Calif. mountains migrated down from OREGON.
So give your best guess, and no snickering from the rest of you that don't agree with the guess. I'd hate to call this a seedling tree and then be embarrassed down the road that it's a common apple in the Northwest.
Applenut
Oregon Dave emailed me and surmised that this is a Twenty Ounce. After looking up the photo and description at http://www.bighorsecreekfarm.com, I believe we have a match. 😛
However, I have a second apple that's posted under Mystery Apple #2. Thanks for your help.
July mystery apple - I've got a couple of apples from one of the 5 trees in my brothers backyard in Oregon City, he has no idea what it is - and my photos probably won't help any! Trees are older, planted by his father-in-law (no longer with us) and are semi dwarf; so it's not a seedling. The two I've got are 3 to 3 1/2", mostly light red but dappled with yellow also; and have small darker red or yellow spots on the skin. The real kicker is that they are ripe and the tree is done producing by August 1st! Shape is oblique, with one side hunched up higher than the other. They look much like a York apple, but are months earlier.
Anyone have any ideas? I'd figure that the early harvest date would really narrow down what they are, but so far I haven't found a match!
Okay, I give up; can't figure out how to even post a photo here! Not much to go on, but anyone have any ideas? I'm trying to save the two apples to bring to the Fruit Show, so I don't even know what they taste like; other than that they're eating apples!
Thanks - Dave
lotus026[/img]
I'm not sure what's going on here... but the bottom apple photo looks like a classic "older style" Gravenstein. And this description:
"It's a big (3-4"), lumpy greenish-yellow apple with a red blush on the sunny side and faint red stripes. The apples pictured aren't as colored as the rest on the tree which are more yellow, but the birds had gotten the ripe ones. The flesh is white, coarse, and sweet with good flavor and some tartness. They keep well but get greasy in storage. The tree is old, 80-100 years or more. It is the last survivor from an old orchard."
That describes my "older style" Gravenstein apples to a tee. As I've grown up with these Gravensteins I've always considered them easy to recognize; and isn't California full of them? Is the stem as short as it appears? Do they drop bad, actually pushing themselves off their spurs, or against each other? Do they ripen earlier than neighboring apples? ...And, that "greasy" skin after storage is classic, though I don't consider them 'keeping' apples.
Anyway, that's my 'guess.' Perhaps too little too late, but for some reason I'd missed a couple of these posts 
Idyllwild
simplepress
jafar
Marsha H
Viron
John S
1 Guest(s)