Lord Grosvenor

Apple

Lord Grosvenor

Origin / History

Origin unknown (E. A. Bunyard). Veitch's entry calls it "all of a valuable variety."

Tree

Growth not very strong. Fertility excellent: "one of the most prolific of all apples" (E. A. Bunyard); very productive (George Bunyard & Co.). It generally needs thinning to secure well-shaped fruit. Does well on dry soil (E. A. Bunyard). Leaf very pale green, large, upfolded, very lax.

Fruit

Size: Medium to large. The nursery catalogs call it large; E. A. Bunyard calls it medium, 3¼ by 3½.

Form: Conical, distinctly ribbed, irregular (E. A. Bunyard); roundish (George Bunyard & Co.).

Stem: Medium, much swollen at the end.

Cavity: Wide, deep.

Calyx: Eye closed.

Basin: Unusually puckered and wrinkled.

Skin: Pale yellow or pale creamy yellow, changing to white.

Dots: Not described in source.

Flesh and flavor: Flesh white, juicy, acid; coarse (Rivers); "unusually crisp" (Veitch). Flavor "good" (George Bunyard & Co.).

Core and seeds: Not described in source.

Season

[NOTE: Source text may be incorrect — Veitch's entry reads "(Large, unusually crisp, all of a valuable variety, good keeping). Jan. to Nov.", which appears garbled. Its "good keeping" and "Jan. to Nov." do not fit the autumn season of the other sources. George Bunyard & Co.'s entry reads "Autumn; Sep-Red," and "Sep-Red" also appears garbled.]

The recorded season runs from August into January. It is an autumn apple, August to September in E. A. Bunyard's account. Rivers extends the season from September to January.

Uses

A culinary apple, cooking excellently (E. A. Bunyard); "valuable for kitchen work in all districts" (George Bunyard & Co.). Rivers calls it "a fine sort for cider."

Subtypes / Variants

Not described in source.

Other

Not described in source.

Book Sources

Described in 1 period pomological work

Bunyard, A Handbook of Hardy Fruits (1920)

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 (4)

LORD GROSVENOR. Culinary, August to September, medium, 3¼ by 3½, conical, distinctly ribbed, irregular. Colour, pale yellow, changing to white. Flesh, white, juicy, acid, cooking excellently. Eye, closed, in an unusually puckered and wrinkled basin. Stem, medium much swollen at end, in a wide deep, cavity. Growth, not very strong ; fertility, excellent. Leaf, very pale green, large, upfolded, very lax. Origin, unknown. One of the most prolific of all apples ; it generally needs thinning to secure well shaped fruit ; it does well on dry soil.

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

(Large, unusually crisp, all of a valuable variety, good keeping). Jan. to Nov.

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

Autumn; Sep-Red, Large, roundish pale creamy-yellow; cooks well; flavour good; very productive; valuable for kitchen work in all districts.

— George Bunyard & Co., George Bunyard Catalog of Fruit Trees (1914) (1914)

large, coarse and juicy; a fine sort for cider - Sept-Jan.

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