A good source of information, short of just doing a google search for each variety, is the USDA Agricultural Resource Service (ARS) website.

http://www.ars-grin.gov/npgs/a.....eries.html

Type "goldspur", or what have you, in the "text search query" field.  Then choose the link, read the description and follow the "observations" link for the answers to some of your questions like harvest season and many other characteristics.

I also like The National Fruit Collection site, it is probably easier to digest, but information is for the UK. http://www.nationalfruitcollec.....ruit=apple

cjb80 said
I find that it is incredibly difficult to find cultivar information.  I am primarily interested in cider apples and sometimes the most that I can do is verify that the name that I have is correct.  For example, I have one cultivar named "Ellis Bitter" and I know that's a legit name because some company in England makes a cider out of it...   Otherwise, I know nothing about it (besides that it's likely a bittersweet).  Anyways, there definitely seems to be a void of information out there.

Chris

What have you tried?  Any particular information you are looking for?  Did you do a Google search, it can be very helpful?

These are a few of the first hits from cutting and pasting "Ellis Bitter" into Google.

http://groworganicapples.com/p.....3,297,1125

Ellis Bitter Thought to have arisen in the nineteenth century in Newton St Cyres in Devon on a farm belonging to Mr. Ellis. Apples are large, conical shaped with a bold orange-red flush and red stripes. Flowers late-midseason; self-sterile. A vigorous tip-bearing tree with a bienniel tendency. Fruit tends to drop as it ripens and has a short storage life.

http://www.fedcoseeds.com/tree.....cookies=no

Ellis Bitter Apple Scionwood This is a twig for grafting. Early Fall. Medium-bittersweet cider apple. Newton St Cyres, Devon, Somerset, England. Large oddly conic fruit—sometimes ribbed—yellowish-green mostly striped and blushed with red. White-fleshed, sweet, crisp and juicy. Soft, astringent, tannin. (SG 1.053, acidity 2g/L, tannin 2.4g/L) Particularly useful for its early ripening. Blend with other early dessert apples or cider varieties. You can also ferment it alone and blend it later with the late apples. Still grown in England’s West Country cider orchards and now being planted in the U.S. Large spreading vigorous tree produces regularly. Midseason bloomer. Z4-6.

http://www.cumminsnursery.com/.....dervar.htm

Ellis Bitter.--Vigorous.  Precocious and productive; tip bearer.  Late blooming. September harvest.  Fruit large(2-1/4"), yellow.  Widely planted in West Country of England. Susceptible to fire blight.  Scab moderately susceptible.  Short storage life.  

http://www.adamsappletrees.co......asp?id=143

Ellis Bitter is a medium bittersweet cider apple variety that is flushed red in appearance. The tree is vigorous and the fruit drops from the branches when ripe. As a variety is a disease resistant, a good quality for organic growing. Ellis Bitter was found in Newton St Cyres, Devon.