Star Reinette
AppleStar Reinette
Origin/History
Star Reinette is a Belgian apple of considerable antiquity. According to Bunyard (1920), it has been grown in Eastern Belgium for some 100 years or more prior to his writing, suggesting cultivation there since at least the early nineteenth century. It was introduced to England probably around 1830. Bunyard identifies it as the Early Red Calville of Hogg. It is recorded in the Flore et Pomologie (1884), p. 169. Downing (1900) cites it from the Album Pomologique.
Tree
Downing describes the tree as vigorous and productive. Bunyard characterizes the growth as compact and the tree as fertile — a description at some tension with Downing's "vigorous," though both agree on good bearing.
Bunyard describes the leaf as rather dark, long oval, held flat with the tip curved downward, and very finely curved-serrate in margin.
Fruit
Size and Form
Downing calls the fruit medium in size. Bunyard describes it as small, measuring 2¼ by 2 inches (height by diameter), flattened-round and regular in outline. Downing adds that it is roundish with ribbing at the apex end.
Stem
Bunyard: very short, set in a narrow russet cavity.
Cavity
Bunyard: narrow, russeted.
Calyx and Basin
Bunyard: the eye is open, set in a very even and regular basin.
Skin
Downing: washed and shaded with red, with distinct white dots visible on the surface. Bunyard: the ground color is a rich yellow, almost entirely covered with carmine red rendered in broad, broken stripes. Bunyard does not mention the white dots noted by Downing.
Flesh and Flavor
Downing describes the flesh as white, tender, and subacid. Bunyard describes it as firm and juicy, pale yellow in color with red suffused beneath the skin — conflicting with Downing's white flesh — and subacid in flavor with a slight strawberry character. The texture accounts also conflict: Downing's "tender" against Bunyard's "firm."
Core and Seeds
Not described in source.
Season
Downing places it in November. Bunyard gives a broader window of October to December.
Uses
Bunyard classes it as a dessert apple. He describes it as of fair quality and most attractive in appearance.
Subtypes/Variants
Not described in source.
Other
Bunyard notes that the name Calville Rouge Précoce applied to this variety is an error.
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 REINETTE ROUGE ETOILEE
USDA Nomenclature (1905)
From W.H. Ragan, Nomenclature of the Apple, USDA Bulletin No. 56
From Album de Pomologie.
Nursery Catalog Sources
Found in 6 catalogs (1900–1913) from England, Illinois
- George Bunyard & Co. , Royal Nurseries, Maidstone, Kent , England — 1900 — listed as Calville Rouge Precoce
- Central Experimental Farm , Dominion Department of Agriculture, Agassiz, British Columbia (under test; Bulletin No. 3, Second Series) — 1900 — listed as Calville Rouge Precoce
- 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 — listed as Calville Rouge Precoce
- James Veitch & Sons , Ltd., Royal Exotic Nursery, Chelsea, London (also Coombe Wood, Langley, and Feltham) , England — 1911 — listed as Calville Rouge Precoce
- Benjamin Buckman (personal inventory) , Farmingdale , Illinois — 1913 — listed as Calville Rouge Precoce
View original book sources (2)
— A.J. Downing, The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1900)Star Reinette. Reinette Etoile. Calville Etoile. A Belgian Apple. Tree vigorous, productive. Fruit medium, roundish, ribbed at apex end, washed and shaded with red, distinct white dots. Flesh white, tender, subacid. November. (Alb Pom.)
— E.A. Bunyard, A Handbook of Hardy Fruits (1920)REINETTE ROUGE ETOILEE. Fl. and Pom., 1884, 169. F., Reinette Rouge Etoilée; G., Roter Stern Reinette. [Calville Rouge Précoce (error), Early Red Calville, Reinette Etoilée.] Dessert, October to December, small, 2¼ by 2, flattened round, regular. Colour, rich yellow, almost covered with carmine red with broad broken stripes. Flesh, firm, juicy, pale yellow with suffused red below skin, sub-acid, of slight strawberry flavour. Eye, open, in a very even, regular basin. Stem, very short, in a narrow russet cavity. Growth, compact; fertile. Leaf, rather dark, long oval, held flat, tip down curved, very finely curved serrate. Origin, it has been grown in Eastern Belgium for some 100 years or more. It was introduced to England probably about 1830. It is the Early Red Calville of Hogg. Of fair quality and most attractive in appearance.