English Apples - Annie Elizabeth
Raised 1857 by Samuel Greatorex, magistrates clerk, Avenue Rd, Leicester.
Named to commemmorate his baby daughter who died 1866. Introduced by
Harrisons a few years later.
Very firm, late cooking apple which keeps well. Tree is very upright in
habit. Blossom is said in many reference books to be unusually pretty, and descriptions range from 'deep red' to 'deep pink' to 'maroon'. This is evidently a mistake which has been copied from book to book.
I've seen the original tree and only the underside of the petals is pink; when the flower opens the upper surface of the petals is very pale pink; the blossom is virtually indistinguishable from that of a Bramley. Photographs are below.
Thought to be a Blenheim Orange seedling. G.D. adds: Large golden
apple, with red sunny side. Crisp and cooks superbly. Can keep until June-July.
The best keeper of all.
HOGG said the following in 1884:
ANNIE ELIZABETH. Fruit, large, round, widest at the base, prominently ribbed or angular. Skin, pale yellow on the shaded side,, streaked and spotted on the side next the sun with bright crimson. Eye, with connivent segments, deeply set in an irregular angular basin. Stamens, median ; tube, deep conical. Stalk, short, deeply set, frequently with a swelling on one side of it. Flesh, white, and of firm, yet crisp and tender texture, with a fine, brisk, sprightly flavour. Cells, obovate ; abaxile.
An excellent late kitchen or dessert apple. A seedling raised by Messrs. Harrison & Sons, of Leicester. Keceived a First Class Certificate from the Royal Horticultural Society, 1868.
Pictures (click on small images for detail):
Fruit
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THE ORIGINAL TREE
This is still in existence. Below I have shown pictures of apples taken from it, photographed in March 2011 (note the bright colouring), the tree as it was in 2011, and a watercolour painting of the tree and surrounding garden done about a hundred years earlier. The picture is reproduced by permission of the owner.
The fruit are brightly coloured and show some russeting around the stem. I have also added blossom pictures from the same tree.
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BLOSSOM FROM THE ORIGINAL TREE
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Note to buyers - All of our Annie Elizabeth trees are propagated from the original tree.
Leicestershire Heritage Apples Project
Photos - Nigel Deacon & Mel Wilson
