Seaton House

Origin/History

Seaton House was raised at Seaton House, Arbroath, Scotland. Bunyard places it in the Hawthornden class of Scottish culinary apples, noting it is valuable chiefly for its remarkable cropping powers.

Tree

Growth is compact. Fertility is described by Bunyard as remarkable, and Veitch concurs, characterizing the variety as remarkably productive and regular bearing.

Leaf: Medium size, long oval, pale in color, held flat, and sharply serrate.

Fruit

Size and Form: Bunyard describes the fruit as medium, measuring 2½ inches by 2 inches, and flat in form. Veitch, by contrast, calls it large. These accounts conflict and both are recorded here.

Stem: Stout, set in a wide and deepish cavity that is slightly lined with russet.

Calyx/Eye: Small and closed, seated in a very shallow basin that is slightly plaited.

Skin: Pale milky-yellow with a faint flush and a few broken stripes. The skin is rather tender.

Flesh: Crisp, juicy, and pale yellow in color. Bunyard characterizes the flavor as flavourless; Veitch, writing a decade earlier, describes it as of good substance with excellent flavour. These assessments are in direct conflict.

Uses: A culinary apple. Veitch rates it very good for cooking and one of the best kitchen varieties.

Season

September to January. Bunyard notes that it often keeps until March, and Veitch independently characterizes it as an excellent keeper.

Uses

Culinary. Valued for cooking; Veitch lists it among the best kitchen varieties. Bunyard is explicit that its primary merit lies in its extraordinary cropping regularity rather than its eating or flavor qualities.

Subtypes/Variants

Not described in source.

Other

Not described in source.