Apple (Malus) Bramley's Seedling M26

Britain's most celebrated cooking apple. Raised from a pip planted by Mary Ann Brailsford in a Southwell, Nottinghamshire garden around 1809–1813, and later introduced commercially in 1865 by nurseryman Henry Merryweather. The original tree is still alive and fruiting today. Holder of the RHS Award of Garden Merit.

Fruit is very large, mainly green with a light red flush on the sun-facing side. The flesh is cream-coloured, juicy and full of flavour, with excellent acidity — cooking down to the classic Bramley purée that's ideal for sauces, pies and crumbles.

A vigorous, spreading tree and a partial tip-bearer, so not suited to trained forms. A triploid variety in pollination group 3, meaning it needs two suitable pollinating partners nearby (ideally from groups 2, 3 or 4), as it cannot pollinate other apple trees itself. Prone to biennial bearing if crops aren't thinned. Picked from mid-October and stores well from November through to March.

Grown on semi-dwarfing M26 rootstock, reaching approximately 3m in height and spread at maturity — because Bramley is naturally so vigorous, M26 is generally recommended as the better choice for keeping this variety to a manageable garden size, rather than a more vigorous rootstock.