GRENADIER
AppleGRENADIER
Origin / History
Origin undiscovered; recorded about 1860 (Bunyard). Veitch's entries call it "extremely handsome, valuable for export" and "excellent, handsome." Rivers calls it a fine cooking apple.
Tree
Growth moderate; fertility excellent; free bearing (Bunyard). Hardy (Rivers). Veitch's entry says it "does remarkably well in cold, draughty places." Rivers lists it for orchard. Leaf long, strap-shaped, little undulated, boldly crenate, pale green.
Fruit
Size: Large.
Form: Round, conical, a little uneven.
Stem: Stout, knobbed at the end.
Cavity: Deep, narrow.
Calyx: Eye closed.
Basin: Moderately deep, rather puckered.
Skin: Smooth; pale green fading to light yellow. Extremely handsome (Veitch).
Dots: Not described in source.
Flesh and flavor: Brisk (Rivers). Cooks to a froth (Bunyard). Veitch's second entry gives "Excellent" and "good flavour."
Core and seeds: Not described in source.
Season
August to September in Bunyard, who calls it "a very valuable cooking apple for August"; Rivers also gives August. Veitch's entries place it later, October to December in one and October and November in the other.
Uses
Culinary: a fine cooking apple (Rivers); "a very valuable cooking apple for August," its free bearing qualities and large size making it "the most popular of market varieties" (Bunyard). Cooks to a froth. Valuable for export (Veitch).
Subtypes / Variants
Not described in source.
Other
Bunyard says GRENADIER has often been confused with Gold Medal, and that some cultivators still mix them. In winter they are easily told apart by the large red buds of Gold Medal.
Book Sources
Described in 1 period pomological work
Nursery Catalog Sources
Found in 9 catalogs (1897–1917) from England, Illinois
- Kelway & Son , Langport, Somerset , England — 1897
- George Bunyard & Co. , Royal Nurseries, Maidstone, Kent , England — 1900
- Central Experimental Farm , Dominion Department of Agriculture, Agassiz, British Columbia (under test; Bulletin No. 3, Second Series) — 1900
- Benjamin Buckman (personal inventory) , Farmingdale , Illinois — 1901
- James Veitch & Sons , Ltd., Royal Exotic Nursery, Chelsea, London (also Coombe Wood, Langley, and Feltham) , England — 1911
- Thomas Rivers & Son , Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire , England — 1913
- Benjamin Buckman (personal inventory) , Farmingdale , Illinois — 1913
- George Bunyard & Co. , Royal Nurseries, Maidstone, Kent , England — 1914
- George Bunyard & Co. , Royal Nurseries, Maidstone, Kent , England — 1917
View original book sources (3)
— E.A. Bunyard, A Handbook of Hardy Fruits (1920)GRENADIER. Culinary, August to September, large, round, conical, a little uneven. Colour, pale green fading to light yellow, smooth. Eye, closed, in a moderately deep basin which is rather puckered. Stem, stout, knobbed at end, in a deep narrow cavity. Growth, moderate; fertility, excellent. Leaf, long, strap shaped, little undulated, boldly crenate, pale green. Origin, undiscovered, recorded about 1860. This variety has often been confused with Gold Medal and they are still mixed by some cultivators. They can be easily recognised in winter by the large red buds of Gold Medal. A very valuable cooking apple for August, its free bearing qualities and large size making it the most popular of market varieties. Cooks to a froth.
— James Veitch & Sons, Veitch's Fruit Trees (1911) (1911)(Extremely handsome, valuable for export, etc.). Oct. to Dec. | (Excellent, handsome, ripening with flavour good flavour, does remarkably well in cold, draughty places). Oct. & Nov.
— Thomas Rivers & Son, Thomas Rivers Catalogue of Fruits (1914) (1914)large, a fine cooking apples hardy brisk Orchard - Aug.