Old Southern Apple Varieties

By Tim Hensley
Published on October 1, 1996
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Southern apple variety: Ben Davis.
Southern apple variety: Ben Davis.
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Southern apple variety: Yellow Transparent.
Southern apple variety: Yellow Transparent.
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Southern apple variety: Grimes Golden.
Southern apple variety: Grimes Golden.
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Southern apple variety: Duchess of Oldenburg.
Southern apple variety: Duchess of Oldenburg.
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Southern apple variety: Black Ben Davis.
Southern apple variety: Black Ben Davis.
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Southern apple variety: Maiden's Blush.
Southern apple variety: Maiden's Blush.
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Southern apple variety: Mammoth Black Twig.
Southern apple variety: Mammoth Black Twig.
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Southern apple variety: Red Limbertwig.
Southern apple variety: Red Limbertwig.
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Southern apple variety: Paradise Winter Sweet.
Southern apple variety: Paradise Winter Sweet.
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Southern apple variety: Stayman Winesap.
Southern apple variety: Stayman Winesap.
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Southern apple variety: Virginia Beauty.
Southern apple variety: Virginia Beauty.
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Southern apple variety: Summer Rambo.
Southern apple variety: Summer Rambo.
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Southern apple variety: Winesap.
Southern apple variety: Winesap.
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Southern apple variety: York Imperial.
Southern apple variety: York Imperial.

A rundown of the best tasting old southern apple varieties available on the market.

Old Southern Apple Varieties

Arkansas Black. Originated in Benton County, Arkansas, around 1870. Probably a seedling of Stayman Winesap. Arkansas Black is a medium to large apple. Waxy skin is dark red, nearly black. Flesh is yellow with distinctive flavor. Great keeping apple. “Hard enough to knock a dog down” when first picked, but mellows in storage. Noted for disease resistance. A superior, late, no-spray apple.

Ben Davis. Striped red apple, very hardy, vigorous, and productive. Ripens late. Exceptional keeper until June or July. Popular in the South after the Civil War. Often described as having only passable flavor, thus rendering it the butt of many an apple joke. (I would add only that any tree that can stand up to 125 years of ribbing has earned its place in the orchard.)

Benham. An old Kentucky apple, sometimes known as the Brown Apple. Bears August. A local favorite in southwest Virginia. Yellow-brown skin. Good early-autumn apple.

Black Ben Davis. Seedling of Ben Davis dating to 1880. Medium to large fruit, deep red all over. Said to make the best apple butter you ever tasted.

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