List of apple cultivars

Over 7,500 cultivars of the apple are known. The following is a list of the more common and important cultivars, with the year and place of origin (where documented), and whether the apples each produces are for cooking, eating, or for making cider.

Two of the most comprehensive publications on apple cultivars are:

'Granny Smith', an apple cultivar

• The New Book Of Apples (ISBN 0091883989) By Dr Joan Morgan of The National Fruit Collection and Alison Richards.

• Directory of Apple Cultivars (ISBN 1874275408) by Martin Crawford of The Agroforestry Research Trust

Table apples

Common name	Origin	First developed	Comment	Use
Adams Pearmain	England	1826	It is a dessert apple, with a similar flavour to the Russet, first introduced under the name "Norfolk Pippin."	Eating
Akane	Japan	1970		Eating
Ambrosia	British Columbia	Early 1980s	Medium to large in size, mostly red coloration with yellow patches. Has cream colored flesh with a sweet, crisp, aromatic flavor and low acidity. Ambrosia trees are hardy and no major disadvantages have yet been identified.	Eating
Anna	Israel			Eating
Annurca	Campania, Italy	1876 (pre-77 A.D.?)	Very old apple; possibly one of the oldest of all. Believed to be older than first mention in Pasquale's "Manuale di Arboricultura" in 1876. Believed to be the apple depicted in frescoes at ruins of Herculaneum and mentioned in Pliny the Elder's "Naturalis Historia".	Eating
Antonovka	Russia		Extremely tolerant of cold weather. Hardy.	Cooking
Arkansas Black	Arkansas	c. 1870	Hard and crunchy; stores well.	Eating
Ashmead's Kernel	England		Small, very sweet and very tart	Eating
Bailey	New York	c. 1840
Baldwin	Massachusetts	c. 1740	Sweet to subacid flavor. Also known as Woodpecker. Very old variety for North America. Makes lots of juice.	Eating and cooking.
Beacon				Eating
Beauty of Bath	England	c. 1864	Deep red flush and streaks of red with a little russet. Early maturing but short season. Poor flavour so now rare.	Eating
Ben Davis	Southeastern United States		Noted for keeping well prior to refrigerated storage, but with a flavor compared with cork.	Eating
Belle de Boskoop	Boskoop, Netherlands	c.1856	Bright red, fairly large, early in season (end of august-early September)	Cooking (traditionally apple sauce)
Beverly Hills				Eating
Blenheim Orange	England	c. 1740	Has greenish-yellow to orange skin streaked with red. Distinctive nutty flavour excellent for cooking. The vigorous tree is slow to come into crop but then produces heavily.	Cooking
Braeburn	New Zealand	1950s,	Chance seedling. Dense apple, and becoming increasingly popular in the UK. Although traditionally eaten by peasants and Gaylords.	Eating
Bramley	Southwell, Nottinghamshire, England	about 1809	One of the U.K.'s most popular apples. Green coloration. Works extremely well in British puddings and apple crumbles.	Cooking
Cameo	Washington	1980s	Existence owed to accidental crossing of two most popular apples in world: Red and Golden Delicious. Retains prongs on bottom of latter parent but has flavor more resembling Golden.	Eating
Carroll				Eating
Calville Blanc d'hiver	France	Approx 1598	Noted for unusual looks (somewhat lumpy on the side) but excellent reward when tried. Noted for having unusually high vitamin C content. Apple of choice for tarte tatin in France.	Cooking
Charles Ross	Berkshire, England	c. 1890	Has been a AGM winner. Orange/Red.Best cooked early in season. Good flavour, and sweet when eaten later in season.	Multi-purpose
Cortland	New York	late 1890s	Pale crisp flesh. Ripens in October in state of origin. Classic red coloration.	Eating
Cornish Gilliflower	Cornwall	1813	Discovered as accidental seedling. Shy bearer.	Eating
Cox's Orange Pippin	Great Britain	c. 1829	Mainly grown in UK, but also grown for export in NZ. Extremely popular apple in Europe.	Eating
Court Pendu Plat	France	1613	Extremely old variety, may date from as early as Roman times. Popular during the Victorian era. Yellow/Light green, flushed with red.	Eating
Cripps Pink ('Pink LadyTM')	Australia	early 1970s, western United States	Crisp, very sweet and slightly tart. Light red, pink and light yellow-green striped skin.	Eating
Crispin	Japan	1930	See Mutsu	Eating
Criterion
Discovery	Essex, England		Possibly from an open pollinated Worcester Pearmain.	Eating
Dorsett				Eating
Duchess of Oldenburg	Russia	1700	Has red stripes with splashes of green	Eating and cooking.
Early Victoria	Essex, England	1899 (Introduced)	Possibly from Lord Grosvenor x Keswick Cod	Eating
Edward VII		1908 (Introduced)	Possibly Blenheim Orange x Golden Nobel	Cooking
Egremont Russet	Sussex, England	1872	Brown russeting, excellent keeper.	Eating
Eia Shewer	Israel			Eating
Ellison's Orange	Lincolnshire, England	1911	Cox's Orange Pippin x Calville Blanc	Eating
Elstar	Netherlands	1950s	Golden Delicious x Ingrid Marie. Medium-sized, mostly red with yellow showing. Often used in desserts due to its sweet flavor.	Eating and cooking
Emmeth Early				Cooking
Empire	New York	1966	Lovely white subacid flesh. Tangy taste. Ruby red color.	Eating
Enterprise	Illinois	1993	Classic North American red apple. Stores well up to six months.	Eating
Epicure	United Kingdom	1909	Yellowish apple with reddish blush. Good clean taste.	Eating
Fiesta				Eating
Fireside				Eating
Flower of Kent	Kent, England	1700s	This is the famous variety that inspired Isaac Newton's theories on the concept of gravity when it hit him on the head.	Eating
Fortune		1904	Cox's Orange Pippin x Wealthy	Eating
Fuji	Japan	1930s	Red Delicious x Ralls Genet. Sweet, crisp, dense flesh. Very long shelf life, even without refrigeration. Japan's predominant eating apple.	Eating
Gala	New Zealand	1970s	Kidds Orange Red x Golden Delicious. Thinner skin. Very soft eating apple, well-suited for denture wearers.	Eating
George Cave	Essex, England	1923	Pale green-yellow fruit with red flush. Early harvest.	Eating
George Neal				Cooking
Ginger Gold	Virginia	late 1960s	Tangy flavor, crunchy texture, pale green-yellow color. Noted for being an extremely early bearer (Europe: by September 1st California: late July, Eastern US: August.)	Eating and cooking.
Golden Delicious	Clay County, West Virginia [1]	1914	One of the most popular varieties in the world. Light green-yellow coloration, very sweet. Poor choice for baking.	Eating
Golden Noble	England	1820	Tree is short and stocky. Produces mint green fruit with blush of pink.	Eating
Golden Russet		before 1845	Very sweet russet	Eating and cider
Golden Spire	Lancashire, UK	1850	An old Northern English variety. Unusual tall and oblong with a tart flavour.	Eating and cider
Granny Smith	Australia	1868	This is the apple once used to represent Apple Records. Also noted as common pie apple. Lime green coloring.	Eating or cooking
Gravenstein	Schleswig-Holstein, Germany	early 1600s	Greenish coloring. Has a checkered history: German immigrants brought cuttings of this variety with them in the mid-19th century to the San Joaquin Valley and by planting it laid the foundation of a very large agribusiness.	Cooking
Grenadier	England	before 1862	Possibly one of the weirdest of all British apples: it is ribbed and lumpy with a tough coat. Makes good sauce.	Cooking
Grimes Golden	Virginia and West Virginia borderlands, USA	1804	Native to Blue Ridge Mountains and piedmont area. Believed to be one of the parents for much more famous golden delicious. Sometimes russets.	Cooking, eating, cider
Haralson	Minnesota	1923	Red color and large, moderately conspicuous dots. Crisp and juicy with a tart flavor. Excellent choice for pies.	Eating and cooking
Hawaii	Introduced c. 1945		Noted for pineapple like taste.	Eating
Heyer 12			Very cold-tolerant	Eating
Honeycrisp	Minnesota	1960	Has excellent eating and keeping qualities. Mottled red and yellow color. Good crunch when in prime condition. Juicy.	Eating
Honeygold	Minnesota	1969		Eating
Howgate Wonder	Isle of Wight, 1915	1960	Usually a big apple. Makes a lot of juice.	Cooking
Idared	Idaho	1942	Very crunchy. Stores fairly well.	Eating
Irish Peach	Kilkenny, Ireland	1800	Apple excellent for baking. Early harvest. More difficult to find within land of origin due to primary use for export to UK. Hardy.	Eating and baking
James Grieve	Edinburgh, Scotland	1893	Good taste, but poor keeper (bruises easily).	Eating or cooking
Jonagold	New York	1968	Several high colored strains are available. Popular in Europe and land of origin. A very large apple, good when fried in a pan with butter and cinnamon. Excellent, hearty snack.	Eating
Jonathan	New York	1920s, elsewhere in United States	Tart taste. Mostly red apple with patches of lime green. Does well in cooler areas; some frost resistance.	Eating and cooking (pie)
Junaluska	North Carolina, United States	c. 1815	Once thought to be extinct but rediscovered in 2001 in rural North Carolina. Native American origin. Named for Cherokee chief Junaluska, leader in Battle of Horseshoe Bend and believed to have planted original tree. Extremely russeted and ugly apple but very hardy tree with wonderful tasting fruit.	Eating, Cider, Cooking
Kidd's Orange Red	New Zealand		Cox's Orange Pippin x Delicious	Eating
Katy	Sweden	1947	Medium sized early eating apple with red skin and pale cream flesh. Well suited to Northern European climate.	Eating
Karmijn de Sonnaville	Wageningen, Netherlands	1949	Yellow groundcolour when ripe, with red flush, and russet depending on the season. Large apple, though shape can be irregular.	Eating and apple juice
Kerry Pippin	County Antrim, Ireland	[c. [1805]]	Pale to golden yellow flesh. Delightful spicy taste. Well suited to Ireland's moist, cool climate.	Eating
Knobbed Russet	Sussex, England	1819	Green and yellow, with rough and black russet. Unusually irregular, warty and knobbly surface.	Eating and cider
Lane's Prince Albert				Cooking
Laxton's Superb	England	1897	Wyken Pippin x Cox's Orange Pippin	Eating
Lodi	Ohio	1911		Eating
Liberty	New York	1978	Very disease resistant. Very similar appearance to McIntosh, relatively short storage life in air.	Eating
Lord Derby	England	c. 1850		Cooking
Lord Lambourne	England	1921 (Introduced);	James Grieve x Worcester Pearmain	Eating
Macoun	New York	1923	cold-tolerant. Crunchy. Does very well in salads.	Eating
Mantet	Manitoba, Canada	1929 (Introduced)	Amber fruit washed with red. Summer apple. Does not do well in warm climates.	Eating
McIntosh	Ontario,Canada	1811	Cold-tolerant; a wildly popular eating apple in Canada and northeastern USA. Noted for being "pocket sized."	Eating, cooking (applesauce)
Melrose	Ohio	Introduced 1944	Flavor improves in storage. Coarse flesh.	Eating
Merton Worcester	John Innes Institute, England		Cox's Orange Pippin x Worcester Pearmain,	Eating
Miller's Seedling	Newbury, Berkshire, England	1848		Eating
Mollie's Delicious				Eating
Muscadet de Dieppe	Normandy, France	c. 1750	Commonly used in making Calvados liquor.	Cooking
Mutsu	Aomori Apple Experiment Station in Japan from Golden Delicious x Indo	1930	Known as Crispin in the UK	Eating
Newtown Pippin	New York	1759, Oregon	Best known colonial apple in North America. Known favorite of Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. Also sometimes called Albemarle Pippin. Light green (northern kind) or electric yellow (southern). Flavor improves with age.	Eating or cooking.
Newton Wonder	England	1870's	Very good cooker. Prolific bearer, can be harvested in winter.	Cooking
Nickajack	North Carolina	c. 1810	Native American origin, believed to be originally grown by Cherokee along banks of Nickajack Creek. Only grown in Appalachians, favorite of later settlers for desserts. Rusty red color with sweet, crisp taste.	Cooking, eating
Northern Spy	New York	c. 1800	tart, firm, stores very well. Noted for being excellent choice for making American style apple pie. Sometimes used as rootstock.	Cider, eating, cooking
Orleans Reinette	France	c.1776	Reliable bearer. Similar taste to Blenheim Orange, but not related.	Eating
Ozark Gold				Eating
Pacific Rose	New Zealand	c.1995	Extremely crisp, sweet, apple. Also grows well in California.	Eating
Paula Red	Kent County, Michigan	c.1960	Firm white flesh, McIntosh mutation	Eating
Peasgood's Nonsuch	England	1858	Very big apple. Can weigh up to half a kilo.	Cooking
Pixie				Eating
Pink Pearl	California	1944	Noted for having bright pink flesh. Sweet. Possibly has crab apple in its ancestry.	Eating
Pinova	Germany	1986	Bred in Germany over an 18-year period. Called Piñata in the United States. Fragrant smell, thin skin and balanced sweet and tart flavor profile. Cross between Golden Delicious, Cox's Orange Pippin and Duchess of Oldenburg.	Eating and Cooking
Pound Sweet	Manchester, Connecticut	1834	Amber coloration. Used mostly for apple butter making. Russets. Does well in moderate cold.	Cooking
Red Astrachan	Russia c. 1800			Cooking
Red Delicious	Iowa	1870s, elsewhere in United States and worldwide	Sometimes referred to as Starking Delicious or variation. Unmistakable for dark red color and prongs on bottom. Terrible choice for cooking or cider, falls apart.	Eating
Rhode Island Greening	Newport, Rhode Island	approx. 1650	Extremely old variety for United States, second only to Roxbury Russet in age. Very tart. Grass green color with some possible russeting near stem.	Cooking, cider
Rev. W. Wilks	England	1908	Pastel green with a light pink flush. Very good against disease.	Cooking
Ribston Pippin	Yorkshire, Great Britain	1707	Yellow, flushed orange, streaked red with russet at the base and apex. Sweet with a pear taste.	Eating
Rome Beauty	Ohio	early 1800s	Rounded, all red, and very glossy. Flavor develops when cooked. Good keeper.	Cooking
Royal Gala	New Zealand	c.1960	Higher colored selection of Gala (see above). Many commercial strains are available.
Rubens (Civni)	Italy	1985	Sweet and crunchy; a cross of Gala and Elstar.	Eating
Sonya	New Zealand		Cross between a Red Delicious and Gala	Eating
Spartan	British Columbia	1926	Good all-purpose, medium sized apple. Has a bright red blush and may have background patches of greens and yellows. Eaten in United States as well.	Eating
Spitzenberg	Esopus, New York	mid 18th century	Grown by Thomas Jefferson at Monticello. Heirloom variety still available at farmstands in Northeast and portions of Virginia.	Eating and cooking
Stark Earliest	USA	1938		Eating
Stayman Winesap	USA	1866	Dull red skin often covered with a light russet. Tart, wine-like flavor. Stores well. Particularly known for applesauce and apple butter.	Eating, cooking and cider
St Edmund's Pippin	Suffolk, England	c. 1870	Unusual in fact that it has scaly russet patches mixed with smooth. Has vanilla/pear taste. Usually a light yellow-green.	Eating
Sunset				Eating
Sweet Sixteen	Minnesota	1973		Eating
Tolman Sweet	United States	1822		Cooking and cider
Tydeman's Early Worcester	England	1929	Mclntosh x Worcester Pearmain. Crimson over yellow background colour.	Eating
Tydeman's Late Orange	England	1930		Eating
Warner's King				Cooking
Wealthy	Minnesota	1860	Pretty reddish pink coat. Believed at one time Minnesota too cold to grow apples until "Wealthy" was born. Wealthy now a parent to many apples for resistance to temperatures below freezing.	Eating
Winesap	United States	1817	Sweet with tangy finish. Reddish blush flecked with some green.	Eating and cider
Worcester Pearmain	Worcestershire, England	1873		Eating

Cider apples

Cider apples may be too sour or bitter for fresh eating, but are used for making cider. Some apples are used both for cider and eating.

Gravenstein apples, used for cooking, dessert, and cider

Common name	Origin	First developed
Baldwin (apple)	Wilmington, Massachusetts	c. 1740
Bulmers Norman
Dymock Red
Foxwhelp
Hagloe Crab
Kingston Black
Red-streak
Roxbury Russet	Massachusetts	c. 1640s
Stoke Red
Tremlett's Bitter
Vista Bella	Rutgers University, (New Brunswick, New Jersey)	1944
Yeovil Sour (apple)	Yeovil, Somerset	c. 1824

Rootstock cultivars

A range of modern apple cultivars

Selection of rootstock cultivars can be difficult: vigorous roots tend to give trees that, while healthy, grow too tall to be harvested easily without careful pruning, while dwarfing rootstocks result in small trees easy to harvest from, but often shorter-lived and sometimes less healthy. Most modern commercial orchards use one of the "Malling series" (aka 'M' series), introduced or developed by the East Malling Research Station from the early 20th century onward. However, a great deal of work has been done recently introducing new rootstocks in Poland, the US (Geneva), and other nations. The Polish rootstocks are often used where cold hardiness in needed. The Geneva series of rootstocks has been developed to resist important diseases such as fireblight and collar rot, as well as for high fruit productivity.

External links to cultivar listings

Some of these links are to commercial sites, but contain useful information on various apple cultivars. Eventually the (non-copyrighted) information from these links should be merged onto the chart here.

• Over 700 apple variety listings from AllAboutApples.com.
• Another extensive list of apple varieties at Apple Journal with 12 pages of apples.
• Apple flavours and descriptions from OrangePippin.com
• Smithsonian article on U.S. heirloom variety situation
• PRI (Purdue Univ., Rutgers State Univ. of New Jersey, and the Univ. of Illinois) breeding program, responsible for many new varieties
• Large online apple variety list
• Online southeast U.S. variety list