Willow Twig

type: Cider, Eating

synonyms: James River, Willow, Willow Leaf

identification: Medium to large, round-conic tending to conic and sometimes ribbed. The skin is smooth and green maturing to yellow, washed with red and marked with darker stripes. Abundant large russet and yellow lenticels. The stem is short and slender, set in a deep and narrlow cavity. The calyx is closed or partly open, set in a wide and somewhat shallow basin.

characteristics: The flesh is yellow, coarse-grained and crisp. Sweet-tart and juicy.

uses: A good fresh eating apple. Also used in making cider.

origins: Believed to have originated in Virginia in the mid-1800s and was first described in an 1845, Virginia gardening catalogue. Described by C.M. Hovey in 1848 edition of "The Magazine of Horticulture" as "A great keeper, and of good size—regarded as among the most valuable apples cultivated on the Ohio River... It is stated to have been brought from New Jersey." S.A. Beach in "The Apples of New York, Volume I" (published 1903) tries to make some sense of it. "The origin of Willow is uncertain. The first that written pomology knows of this variety is that ir was being grown in the state of Ohio about the middle of <1800s>. It was said to have been brought there from New Jersey, but these statements are hardly convincing because they lake definiteness. Warder refers to it as a Virginia fruit, but the authority for the statement is not given. Its cultivation gradually spread from Ohio throughout the Middle West. The fruit was found particularly desirable for shipping to New Orleans and other southern markets." It was gradually replaced by the Ben Davis which was not nearly as susceptible to disease.

cultivation: Vigorous, strong grower. Large, upright spreading with a drooping, willowy twigs. Precocious. Bears fruit annually with the largest crops on a biennial basis.

mutations: Red Willow Twig and Red Willow

cold storage: Keeps up to five months.

vulnerabilities: Susceptible to scab, mildew and fire blight.

harvest: Over the span of several weeks starting early in the fifth period.