Orange Pippin logo
All about apples, pears, plums, and cherries - and orchards where they are grown

Winter Banana apple

Winter Banana
Named for the alleged banana-like flavour.

Winter Banana apple identification images

All images copyright Orange Pippin unless otherwise stated.

  • Winter Banana
  • Winter Banana
  • Winter Banana

USDA identification images for Winter Banana

The identification paintings in the USDA Pomological Watercolor Collection span the years 1886 to 1942.

  • USDA watercolor image of Malus domestica: Winter Banana
  • USDA watercolor image of Malus domestica: Winter Banana
  • USDA watercolor image of Malus domestica: Winter Banana

Citation: U.S. Department of Agriculture Pomological Watercolor Collection. Rare and Special Collections, National Agricultural Library, Beltsville, MD 20705.

Visitor reviews

  • 18 Oct 2020  VA, United States
    I grew up with what I believe were Winter Banana apples at the back of one of the 3 orchards on our property in Wayne Country, NY. My brother and I would wait until after freezing weather, pick up the windfalls, peel the skin off them with our teeth, and then scrape what was essentially apple sherbet into our mouths!
  • 21 Aug 2020  OREGON, United States
    I grew up with a Winter Banana tree in our front yard. The apples are delicious and will keep all winter in cold storage. We always made the Waldorf Salad for Thanksgiving and Christmas using them. The salad doesn’t taste right w/o them. The tree is still producing at about 100 years old, but I no longer live there.
  • 07 Aug 2020  WA, United States
    Sorry to add a rather negative opinion, but growing up in Tukwila, WA in the 1960s we had many apple trees of different varieties on our property. One was the winter banana, which I would describe as having a mild banana flavor, but harsh and dry. My mother occasionally used them for applesauce, but that couldn't compare to the applesauce she made from the yellow transparent or gravenstein apples. She also tried pie, no luck. Personally, I would not search this one out. There are so many other and better varieties around now.
  • 15 Sep 2019  MT, United States
    Yes! Banana flavor! Crisp, good eating. Will be grafting one into my orchard.
  • 18 Nov 2014  VERMONT, United States
    Just got some of these from Scott Farm in Vermont. They definitely have a subtle banana flavor and aroma. Scott Farm does a fantastic job growing and marketing heirloom varieties. These apples were free of blemishes and rust.
  • 28 Jul 2013  OH, United States
    The house we moved into when I was a child had two of these trees, which produced a bumper crop of delicious apples yearly until fifteen years later when they were taken out by a lightning storm. No banana flavor/smell, but very sweet, dense flesh, light pineapple tones, PERFECT for apple pies and eating fresh, in my opinon. Stores great in the freezer, and if you keep them in cooler temps they store for four to five months easy. I will be planting two if I can find them - wonderful apple.
  • 07 Apr 2013  WASHINGTON/SPOKANE, United States
    winter banana is named for the color and the ridges running up the sides, that resemble those on a banana. Late ripening, and a very orderly growth habit, requires little pruning.
  • 26 Jan 2013  WASHINGTON, United States
    I was pleasantly surprised by this apple: pretty fair for eating. I didn't get any banana overtones which is fine with me as I can't stand bananas!
  • 05 Oct 2011  MAINE, United States
    These are the best apples. The flavor--weather they taste like bananas or not--is fabulous. They're big, they're great for fresh eating or cooking, and they keep if kept cold. Love them. My neighbor has a beautiful old tree and I hope to add one to my orchard this year.
  • 22 Sep 2011  PENNSYLVANIA, United States
    Rauchtown, PA has the winter banana apple ... if were close
  • 24 Jul 2011  Pennsylvania (south-central), United States
    As a child living in Massachusetts, I remember my family would pack up and head off to apple orchards during the colder months of the year. One time we ended up at this apple orchard in New Hampshire and I tried an apple I never heard of. It was named "Winter Banana: but I do not remember it tasting like banana. To me it was more like pineapple and was a favorite of mine (only found this one time). I would be interested in knowing if it is available within a 100 mile radius of S. PA (near York, PA). Maybe I will grow it if I have room after my 2012 order is planted. Thanks!
  • 21 Jan 2011  United States
    You can find Winter Banana Apples (for shipment within the continental US only) at www.starkbros.com
  • 21 Jan 2011  NM, United States
    where can I buy a winter banana apple tree?
  • 28 Oct 2010  :PA, United States
    Where can I purchase a Winter Banana Tree?
  • 24 Sep 2010  United States
    I have worked at an apple orchard for many years, I always thought it was a "ficticious" name for an apple that is used here for pollinating only.
  • 14 Sep 2010  PA, United States
    I've been eating this apple since I was a child. I don't know where the banana comes from , maybe the color? They keep till spring if refrigerated. My very favorite!
  • 15 May 2010  United Kingdom
    Certain pear varieties can be grafted onto this. Apple-and-pear trees were available at one time from Deacon's nursery, i.o.w.
  • 17 Aug 2009  CALIFORNIA, United States
    I find winter banana to be a much better cooking than eating apple. The flesh is very dense. I think it is one of the most beautiful apples in our orchard, but not the best eating apple.
  • 06 May 2009  CANAAN, NH, United States
    I have tasted this tree in the 60's and 70's till the tree had been taken down. It was very old. We had 4 different types of apple trees. Our family house had been built in 1790, and there was an orchard with over 500 apple trees just above our house during that same time period. It truly tasted like a banana, and was yellow in color. I wish to taste one once again.
  • 14 Nov 2008  WOODSIDE, CA., United States
    This is one of my favorite apples in our orchard, for its sweetness and unique flavor. Although I wouldn't necessarily peg the flavor as "banana" these apples do have an aromatic perfume that is unlike most others. I have been rehabilitating several 80 year old trees of this cultivar after decades of neglect, and they are beginning to bear nicely on renewed fruit spurs. The fruit itself is very attractive, a warm yellow color with red blemishes on one side. Crisp and never mealy, this is an apple to eat right off the tree! Perhaps the connotation of 'Banana' also comes from its yellowish color?

Tree register

United States

United Kingdom

Belgium

Canada

Australia

  • Hayden in Winslow, VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA

New Zealand

  • Giles in HAMILTON, WAIKATO
  • Jo in Gisborne, EAST COAST

Spring blossom records for this variety

2020 season

  • 28th March  2020  - tree owned by Jerry in Point Reyes Station, United States

2019 season

  • 12th April  2019  - tree owned by Jerry in Point Reyes Station, United States

2018 season

  • 29th March  2018  - tree owned by Jerry in Point Reyes Station, United States

2017 season

  • 27th March  2017  - tree owned by Jerry in Point Reyes Station, United States

2016 season

  • 10th March  2016  - tree owned by Jerry in Point Reyes Station, United States
  • 1st March  2016  - tree owned by Kenneth in Newberry, United States

2015 season

  • 24th March  2015  - tree owned by Jerry in Point Reyes Station, United States

2014 season

  • 23rd May  2014  - tree owned by Mark in Leyburn, United Kingdom
  • 14th April  2014  - tree owned by Pip in Rye, United Kingdom

2013 season

  • 15th May  2013  - tree owned by Pip in Rye, United Kingdom
  • 3rd April  2013  - tree owned by Libba in Albuquerque, United States

2012 season

  • May  2012  - tree owned by Johan in Gent, Belgium
  • 4th April  2012  - tree owned by Pip in Rye, United Kingdom

2011 season

  • May  2011  - tree owned by Kris in Holden, United States
  • 21st April  2011  - tree owned by Pip in Rye, United Kingdom

2010 season

  • 10th May  2010  - tree owned by Johan in Gent, Belgium

2009 season

  • September  2009  - tree owned by Pip in Rye, United Kingdom
  • 18th April  2009  - tree owned by Dave in Camas, United States

Record your blossom dates in our Fruit Tree Register - more >>.


Harvest records for this variety

2020 season

  • 2nd week October  2020  - tree owned by Jerry in Point Reyes Station, United States

2019 season

  • 4th week October  2019  - tree owned by Jerry in Point Reyes Station, United States

2018 season

  • 1st week October  2018  - tree owned by Jerry in Point Reyes Station, United States

2017 season

  • 4th week September  2017  - tree owned by Jerry in Point Reyes Station, United States

2015 season

  • 3rd week October  2015  - tree owned by Dolores in Canandaigua, United States
  • October  2015  - tree owned by Roger in Madison Heights, United States

2014 season

  • October  2014  - tree owned by Pip in Rye, United Kingdom

2013 season

  • October  2013  - tree owned by Pip in Rye, United Kingdom
  • September  2013  - tree owned by Libba in Albuquerque, United States

2012 season

  • 2nd week October  2012  - tree owned by George in Woodland, United States
  • October  2012  - tree owned by Pip in Rye, United Kingdom

2011 season

  • October  2011  - tree owned by Kris in Holden, United States
  • October  2011  - tree owned by Pip in Rye, United Kingdom

2009 season

  • 2nd week September  2009  - tree owned by Dave in Camas, United States

Origins

  • Species: Malus domestica - Apple
  • Parentage: Unknown
  • Originates from: Indiana, United States
  • Introduced: 1870s
  • UK National Fruit Collection accession: 1921-094
  • We are grateful to Brogdale Farm - home of the UK National Fruit Collection - for providing samples of this variety.

Identification

  • Country of origin: United States
  • Period of origin: 1850 - 1899
  • Leaf colour: Green
  • Annual cycle: Deciduous
  • Alleles: 3
  • Alleles: 5

Using

  • Picking season: Very late
  • Keeping (of fruit): 1-2 months
  • Flavour quality: Good
  • Flavour style (apples): Sweeter
  • Vitamin C content: Medium
  • Cropping: Good
  • Food uses: Eating fresh
  • Food uses: Juice
  • Food uses: Hard cider
  • Picking period: late October
  • Wildlife: RHS Plants for Pollinators

Growing

  • Gardening skill: Average
  • Flowering group: 4
  • Pollinating others: Good
  • Ploidy: Diploid
  • Vigour: Slightly large
  • Precocity: Precocious
  • Bearing regularity: Regular
  • Fruit bearing: Spur-bearer
  • Self-fertility: Not self-fertile

Climate

  • Cold hardiness (USDA): Zone 5 (-29C)
  • Chill requirement: Low-chill 300-400 hours
  • Climate suitability: Warm climates
  • Summer average maximum temperatures: Cool ( 20-24C / 68-75F)
  • Summer average maximum temperatures: Warm (25-30C / 76-85F)

Other qualities

  • Disease resistance: Average
  • Cedar apple rust: Very susceptible

Where to buy trees

The following tree nurseries offer Winter Banana apple trees for sale:


Where to buy fresh fruit

The following orchards grow Winter Banana:

United States


United Kingdom


Canada




References

  • Cedar-Apple Rust  
    Author: Stephen Vann, University of Arkansas, Division of Agriculture (FSA7538)
    Rated as highly susceptible - control always needed where CAR is prevalent.
  • Apples of England (1948)
    Author: Taylor
  • Some Antique Apples for Modern Orchards, (2008)
    Author: Merwin I.A.

Varieties you viewed