Hollandbury
AppleHollandbury
Origin / History
An old English culinary apple of uncertain origin, known at least by the end of the eighteenth century (Bunyard). Recorded in Ronalds (p. 40) and known on the Continent under the French name Beau Rouge and the German name Kirke's Schoener Rambour (Bunyard). Also historically identified with the names Bonne Rouge, Hallingsbury, Kirke's Scarlet Admirable, and Red Flanders (Bunyard). Bunyard (1920) notes it as "a striking fruit but now superseded."
Tree
Strong, vigorous grower (Downing). Growth vigorous; moderately fertile (Bunyard). Leaves held-up, upfolded, and twisted; large, roundish, sharply serrate (Bunyard).
Fruit
Size: Sources conflict. Downing calls the fruit very large; Bunyard gives dimensions of 3½ inches by 3¼ inches and also describes it as large. Elliott, by contrast, describes the fruit as medium.
Form: Roundish, flattened, and ribbed (Downing; Elliott similarly records roundish flattened). Bunyard adds the qualifiers round, conical, flattened, irregular, suggesting a somewhat variable outline.
Stem: Medium length, set in a wide and deep cavity (Bunyard).
Cavity: Wide and deep (Bunyard).
Calyx: Eye closed (Bunyard).
Basin: Large (Bunyard).
Skin: Ground color clear yellow, with a scarlet or heavy red flush on the sun-exposed side (Bunyard: "clear yellow with scarlet flush"; Downing: "yellow, much red in the sun"; Elliott: "red on yellow").
Flesh / Flavor: White and tender across all sources. Downing characterizes the flavor as juicy, brisk subacid; Bunyard describes it as acid; Elliott records it simply as sour. The sources broadly agree on an acid character, with Downing's "brisk subacid" representing the mildest characterization.
Core / Seeds: Not described in any source.
Season
Sources differ slightly. Downing gives October–December; Bunyard gives November–December; Elliott gives December–February. The consistent overlap is December, suggesting a mid-to-late autumn ripening with the fruit holding at least into early winter, and potentially to February under storage (Elliott).
Uses
Culinary (Downing; Bunyard).
Subtypes / Variants
Not described in any source.
Other
Not described in any source.
Book Sources
Described in 3 period pomological works
Nursery Catalog Sources
Found in 3 catalogs (1900–1911) from England
- 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
- James Veitch & Sons , Ltd., Royal Exotic Nursery, Chelsea, London (also Coombe Wood, Langley, and Feltham) , England — 1911
View original book sources (3)
— A.J. Downing, The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1900)HOLLANDBURY.
Hollingbury. Hawberry Pippin. Horsley Pippin. Beau Rouge. Bonne Rouge. Howburry Pippin. Kirke's Scarlet Admirable.
An old English culinary Apple. Tree strong, vigorous grower.
Fruit very large, roundish, flattened, ribbed, yellow, much red in the sun. Flesh white, tender, juicy, brisk subacid. October, December.
— F.R. Elliott, The Western Fruit Book (1865)HOLLANDBURGH. Hollandbury. Medium, roundish flattened, red on yellow; flesh, white, sour. December, February.
— E.A. Bunyard, A Handbook of Hardy Fruits (1920)HOLLANDBURY. Ronalds, p. 40. F., Beau Rouge. G., Kirke's Schoener Rambour. (Bonne Rouge, Hallingsbury, Kirke's Scarlet Admirable, Red Flanders.) Culinary, November to December, large, 3½ by 3¼, round, conical, flattened, irregular. Colour, clear yellow with scarlet flush. Flesh, tender, white, acid. Eye, closed, in a large basin. Stem, medium, in a wide and deep cavity. Growth, vigorous; moderately fertile. Leaf, held-up, upfolded, twisted, large, roundish, sharply serrate. Origin, uncertain; known at the end of the eighteenth century. A striking fruit but now superseded.
Holland Pippin: see Pott's Seedling.