This elusive yet classic heirloom variety is famous for a reason. The crisp and juicy flesh has the desired characteristic of having a balanced sweet/ tart taste. It's smooth greenish yellow skin has a slight green in the cavity and the basin often seems pinched together, reminiscent of the Belleflower, to which it may be related. This is a different, yet related variety to the Calville Blanc d'Hiver, which has stronger ribbing, strong cavity russeting and ripens later. When grown under favorable conditions and with enough chill hours, the Calville Blanc makes a great eating apple as well as a fantastic pie apple. It's pronounced 5 ribs makes this apple stand out, and It has a small 'seam' that can often be seen running from the cavity to the base, similar to the Winter Banana, which may also be a close relative. Ripens in October at 4500'.

The feral, non pruned, non-irrigated grandmother tree thrives in the little mining town of Forest in Sierra County at 4489'. During the Gold Rush many miners planted orchards around the mine and home sites for food and cider. This town had many varieties of trees planted in every space available. Many have died but the extremely hardy few that remain offer an abundance of genetic diversity from the past.