Striped Beaufin
AppleStriped Beaufin
Origin/History
Striped Beaufin is probably of English origin. It was found in Norfolk and introduced to general cultivation about 1850. It is figured at plate 35 of the Herefordshire Pomona. The variety is also known in French as Beaufin Strié and in German as Gestreifter Beaufin. Downing's account follows Lindley.
Tree
The tree is hardy (Downing) and vigorous in growth, with good fertility (Bunyard). Leaves are large, roundish, dark in color, slightly upcupped, and very boldly curved-serrate (Bunyard).
Fruit
Size
Large (Downing); fairly large, measuring approximately 3½ inches high by 3 inches wide (Bunyard).
Form
Downing describes the fruit as roundish oblate and broadly ribbed. Bunyard describes it as round and conical, with an irregular outline. These accounts conflict on the oblate-versus-conical character; both agree on irregularity of form.
Stem
Short, set in a medium cavity (Bunyard).
Cavity
Medium (Bunyard).
Calyx
Nearly closed (Bunyard).
Basin
Deep and irregular (Bunyard).
Skin
Downing describes the ground color as greenish yellow, covered and mottled with broken stripes and dashes of deep red. Bunyard describes the ground as pale green, almost covered with wide red stripes. Both accounts agree that red striping is the dominant surface feature, largely obscuring the green ground.
Flesh and Flavor
The flesh is firm in both accounts. Downing describes it as yellowish white, juicy, and of pleasant acid flavor. Bunyard describes it as greenish yellow in color and sub-acid. The two sources conflict on flesh color — yellowish white (Downing) versus greenish yellow (Bunyard).
Season
October through May (Downing); keeps until May (Bunyard).
Uses
Culinary (Bunyard). The long keeping season through May suggests value as a late-season cooking apple.
Other
Bunyard calls it "a useful old sort."
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 STRIPED BEEFING
Nursery Catalog Sources
Found in 8 catalogs (1900–1917) from England, Illinois
- George Bunyard & Co. , Royal Nurseries, Maidstone, Kent , England — 1900 — listed as Striped Beefing
- 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 Striped Beefing
- James Veitch & Sons , Ltd., Royal Exotic Nursery, Chelsea, London (also Coombe Wood, Langley, and Feltham) , England — 1911 — listed as Striped Beefing
- Thomas Rivers & Son , Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire , England — 1913 — listed as Striped Beefing
- Benjamin Buckman (personal inventory) , Farmingdale , Illinois — 1913 — listed as Striped Beefing
- George Bunyard & Co. , Royal Nurseries, Maidstone, Kent , England — 1914 — listed as Striped Beefing
- George Bunyard & Co. , Royal Nurseries, Maidstone, Kent , England — 1917 — listed as Striped Beefing
View original book sources (2)
— A.J. Downing, The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1900)Striped Beaufin.
An English Apple. Tree hardy, productive.
Fruit large, roundish oblate, broadly ribbed, greenish yellow, covered and mottled with broken stripes and dashes of deep red. Flesh yellowish white, firm, juicy, pleasant acid. October to May. (Lindley.)
— E.A. Bunyard, A Handbook of Hardy Fruits (1920)STRIPED BEEFING. Her. Pom. 35. F., Beaufin Strié ; G., Gestreifter Beaufin. Culinary, till May, fairly large, 3½ by 3, round, conical, irregular. Colour, pale green almost covered with wide red stripes. Flesh, firm, greenish-yellow, sub-acid. Eye, nearly closed, in a deep irregular basin. Stem, short, in a medium cavity. Growth, vigorous ; fertile. Leaf, large, roundish, dark, slightly upcupped, very boldly curved serrate. Origin, probably English. Found in Norfolk and introduced to general cultivation about 1850. A useful old sort.