Agnes
AppleAgnes Apple
Origin/History
Origin in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania (Downing). Elliott identifies it as American, without further geographic detail.
Tree
Not described in source.
Fruit
Size and Form: Below medium in size. Downing describes the form as oblate and somewhat oblique; Elliott describes it as roundish flattened. Both indicate a distinctly flattened profile.
Stem/Stalk: Short (both sources). Downing adds that it is also small in thickness.
Cavity: Downing describes it as large; Elliott describes it as deep.
Calyx: Closed (both sources).
Basin: Medium (both sources).
Skin: Yellowish ground, striped and shaded with red. Both sources note brown dots; Downing specifies these as light brown.
Flesh/Flavor: Elliott identifies the flesh as white. Downing describes it as tender. Both sources characterize the flavor as spicy and subacid. Downing adds the qualifier "pleasant." Quality rated "Good" by both sources.
Core/Seeds: Not described in source.
Season
Downing gives September–October. Elliott gives August–September. The sources agree on September as the primary month; Downing extends the season into October while Elliott places the early edge in August.
Uses
Not described in source beyond the quality rating of "Good."
Subtypes/Variants
Not described in source.
Other
Not described in source.
Book Sources
Described in 2 period pomological works
View original book sources (2)
— A.J. Downing, The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1900)Agnes's.
Origin, Lancaster Co., Pa. Fruit rather below medium, oblate, somewhat oblique. Skin yellowish, striped, and shaded with red, and sprinkled with light brown dots. Stalk short and small, inserted in a large cavity. Calyx closed, in a medium basin. Flesh tender, with a spicy, pleasant, subacid flavor. "Good." September, October.
— F.R. Elliott, The Western Fruit Book (1865)Agnes.
American. Fruit, below medium, roundish flattened; stem, short; cavity, deep; calyx, closed; basin, medium; color, yellowish, striped and shaded with red; brown dots; flesh, white, spicy, sub-acid; "good." August to September.