Worcester Pearmain apple

Malus domestica

A popular early-season English apple, sometimes with a strawberry flavour. Often used in breeding programmes to develop other early varieties.

Worcester Pearmain apple photo tape

Parentage: Possibly a seedling of Devonshire Quarrenden
Origin: England
Introduced: 1870s
Season: Sept
Apple cultivar ID: 114300

Some historical details taken with kind permission from 'The New Book of Apples' by Joan Morgan and Alison Richards , illustrated by Elisabeth Dowle, published by Ebury Press, 2002.


Worcester Pearmain is an early season English apple, originating from Worcester in the 1870s.

Worcester Pearmain has been a relatively popular apple from the start, and is still grown commercially on a small scale in England.  The apples come into season a few weeks after Discovery, and it is relatively easy to find for a short period in mid-September in supermarkets and farmers markets.

Worcester Pearmain's main claim to fame is the strawberry flavour, although the intensity of this is quite variable.  As with any early variety, the flavour is very dependent on the weather during the short period that the apples ripen.  The parentage of Worcester Pearmain is unknown but a likely candidate is Devonshire Quarrenden - which also has the strawberry flavour.

Although it cannot  be regarded as being in the first rank of apple varieties, Worcester Pearmain has been used as the basis for a surprisingly large number of breeding programmes.  The early ripening period and the strawberry flavour are the main reasons for this, with growers hoping to introduce this dimension into new varieties.  The intense red/crimson flush is another commercially valuable characteristic.  It has to be said that many of these varieties are a considerable improvement over Worcester Pearmain.  Discovery is perhaps the most well-known, but Elton Beauty, Katy, Jester, and Lord Lambourne all inherit the strawberry flavour to some extent.

Worcester Pearmain makes a good apple tree for the garden, and the flavour really benefits if the apples are left on the tree as long as possible.  However, some of its offspring are also good varieties for the garden - Katy for example.



Relationships to other apple varieties

Offspring of this variety

See also

Visitor comments

(Use the form at the bottom to add your own comments, or reply to one of the existing comments)

21 Jul 2008 12:34   Lorna Doone from S.W. London
R.D. Blackmore may have grown this variety in his nursery, as it is grown locally. I've managed to store this apple in the shed (unless it was the ones I bought!) until the Spring. It does soften and wrinkle. I make sure there's space between each and check, say, weekly, especially at the beginning. It seems to produce a crop every other year. Fruits along the stem. RDB also grew Pears - long green type. Reply to this comment
07 May 2008 14:09   Karol Crabtree from Worcester, UK
I have an orchard in which I have several very old trees bearing Pairmain. Beautiful flavoured fruit. I would appreciate it if anyone knew of a market for my fruit as most years much goes to waste - such a shame.Reply to this comment
23 Mar 2008 19:18   Catharine Deam from Bristol, UK
My trees are supposed to be Worcester Pearmain. They often flower from mid-April onwards and are ripe to eat from late July to early September. They do not keep well and are indeed best eaten when slightly underripe. Mine are finished long before October.Reply to this comment
13 Jan 2008 18:49   Geoff Powers from Essex, UK
When I was a lad we had a tree of Worcesters, along with several other varieties, growing in our garden on the outskirts of Birmingham. It is my view that this apple is vastly superior to any other English commercial apple variety in taste, crispness (best eaten slightly underripe when the pips are still white) and texture. Its flavour is quite distinctive and the Discovery, which has a tart flavour in comparison, does not match it. (Only the Cox's Orange Pippin of English varieties can rival it. Unfortunately many so- called Cox's Orange Pippin apples originating from New Zealand lack the Cox flavour and are not true Coxes.) The downside of the Worcester Pearmain is (a) it is available over only a very short season mid-September-mid October of a max 5 weeks. (b) it does not keep. What a shame! I could eat Worcesters all the year round! Reply to this comment

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