Lord Burleigh

Apple

Lord Burleigh

Origin / History

Lord Burleigh is an English dessert apple, raised in the garden of the Marquis of Exeter at Burghley, near Stamford. It was distributed in 1865 by Mr. Hase of Peterborough (Bunyard). At the time Downing reported on it, it was described as "a new celebrated English dessert Apple, as yet untested here."

Tree

Growth slender; moderately fertile. Leaf long oval, slightly upfolded, slightly undulated, shallow serrate or nearly crenate (Bunyard).

Fruit

Size: Medium (Downing, Veitch, Rivers); small, 2¼ by 1¾ inches (Bunyard). Sources disagree on size — Downing, Veitch, and Rivers describe it as medium, while Bunyard records it as small with specific measurements of 2¼ by 1¾ inches.

Form: Roundish, slightly oblate, and ribbed (Downing); flattened, round-conical, irregular (Bunyard).

Stem: Medium, set in a shallow cavity (Bunyard). Downing does not describe the stem separately, though he notes the fruit's general form.

Cavity: Shallow (Bunyard). Not otherwise described.

Calyx / Eye: Nearly closed in a shallow irregular basin (Bunyard).

Basin: Shallow and irregular (Bunyard).

Skin: Yellow, with a bright crimson cheek, and many russet specks (Downing); pale greenish-yellow with a clear brown-red flush (Bunyard); yellow (Rivers). Sources broadly agree on a yellow ground with a red flush or cheek; Downing additionally notes many russet specks.

Flesh / Flavor: Yellowish, tender, juicy, with a sweet pine-apple flavor (Downing); firm, yellow, juicy and sweet (Bunyard); tender, juicy and richly flavoured (Veitch); pure flavour (Rivers). Bunyard calls the flesh "firm" while Downing calls it "tender" — a notable conflict in texture between the two principal pomological sources.

Core / Seeds: Not described in source.

Season

January to May (Downing); keeps as a dessert apple until May (Bunyard); October to May (Veitch); January to May (Rivers). A late-keeping dessert apple; Veitch gives the earliest start to the season (October), while Downing, Bunyard, and Rivers indicate it holds through to May.

Uses

Dessert apple — "very popular as a dessert fruit" (Veitch); "one of the best late dessert varieties" (Bunyard).

Subtypes / Variants

Not described in source.

Other

Not described in source.

Book Sources

Described in 2 period pomological works

Downing, Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1900)
Bunyard, A Handbook of Hardy Fruits (1920) — listed as Lord Burghley

Nursery Catalog Sources

Found in 5 catalogs (1900–1913) from England, Illinois

George Bunyard & Co. , Royal Nurseries, Maidstone, Kent , England — 1900 — listed as Lord Burghley
Central Experimental Farm , Dominion Department of Agriculture, Agassiz, British Columbia (under test; Bulletin No. 3, Second Series) — 1900 — listed as Lord Burghley
Benjamin Buckman (personal inventory) , Farmingdale , Illinois — 1901 — listed as Lord Burghley
James Veitch & Sons , Ltd., Royal Exotic Nursery, Chelsea, London (also Coombe Wood, Langley, and Feltham) , England — 1911 — listed as Lord Burghley
Benjamin Buckman (personal inventory) , Farmingdale , Illinois — 1913 — listed as Lord Burghley

View original book sources (4)

Lord Burleigh. Lord Burghley. A new celebrated English dessert Apple, as yet untested here. Fruit medium, roundish, slightly oblate, and ribbed, yellow, with a bright crimson cheek, and many russet specks. Flesh yellowish, tender, juicy, sweet pine-apple flavor. January to May. (Hogg.)

— A.J. Downing, The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1900)

LORD BURGHLEY. Her. Pom., 65. (Lord Burghleigh.) Dessert, till May, small, 2¼ by 1¾, flattened, round-conical, irregular. Colour, pale greenish-yellow with clear brown red flush. Flesh, firm, yellow, juicy and sweet. Eye, nearly closed in a shallow irregular basin. Stem, medium in a shallow cavity. Growth, slender; moderately fertile. Leaf, long oval, slightly upfolded, slightly undulated, shallow serrate or nearly crenate. Origin, raised in the garden of the Marquis of Exeter, at Burghley, near Stamford. Distributed in 1865, by Mr. Hase, of Peterborough. One of the best late dessert varieties.

— E.A. Bunyard, A Handbook of Hardy Fruits (1920)

medium size, tender, juicy and richly flavoured, very popular as a dessert fruit. Oct. to May.

— James Veitch & Sons, Veitch's Fruit Trees (1911) (1911)

medium size, yellow, with a skin pure flavour - Jan.-May

— Thomas Rivers & Son, Thomas Rivers Catalogue of Fruits (1914) (1914)

Lord Burghleigh Lord Burghley