King David

Good Apple Info Snapshot:

All hail the King!  A featured Mid-Season Bloom tree.

Good Apple Info Difficulty Rating:

Easy.

Tree Habit:

Moderately vigorous, spreading with a tendency to go brushy. Tolerates humid climate and needs warm autumns to fully ripen. Fruit holds well on the tree.

Apple Color:

Skin rather thick, tough, glossy, mostly covered with red overlaid with stripes of darker red, with a gray bloom; dots numerous, irregular, tan russet.

Size:

Medium to large, roundish to oblate, conical, often oblique.

Flavor:

subacid – slightly sweet, slightly tart, spicy and cidery, reminiscent of the Winesap. Flesh yellowish white, fine-grained, crisp, juicy.

Bloom:

Mid-Season.

Ripe:

September/October

History:

Thought to be a cross of Jonathan x Winesap or perhaps Jonathan x Arkansas Black. The original tree was found in 1893 growing in a fencerow on the farm of Ben Frost near Durham in Washington County, Arkansas. It was trademarked and introduced by Stark Bro’s Nursery in 1902 and sold by them until the 1930s as a replacement for Jonathan in commercial orchards.

Storage:

Ok, 2 months.

Uses:

Fresh Eating, Cider, Cooking. Makes a superb apple strudel.