Langton's Nonsuch apple

This is an old English variety, originating in Church Langton, Leicestershire, England, from which its name derives.

The apples are middle sized, slightly-flattened conical in shape, usually about two and a half inches in diameter, and two and a quarter inches deep. The stalk is short, slender, in a shallow cavity, seldom projecting beyond the base. The skin is pale yellow, spotted and marbled with orange, with numerous broken stripes and patches of brick-red on the sunny side. The flesh is unusually white, soft, and tender. The juice is sweet and tart and slightly perfumed.

Langton's Nonesuch is also a good culinary variety. It is more acidic than most dessert varieties, having an intense sharp aromatic flavour and a characteristic flowery scent. It keeps in good condition for about a week; after a fortnight the flesh becomes soft and crumbly in texture.

The tree is slender and tip-bearing and there is some susceptibility to woolly aphis. The blossom is white and the flowering period is early; a few days earlier than Bramley.

The variety has also been called 'Hanbury' and 'Sans-Pareil'. It has been known since the late 1700s, but was last recorded in England in the 1920s. A tree was located in a garden in Germany by the Leicestershire Heritage Apples Project during 2007, and trees are being propagated.