This American heirloom apple, a Yellow Bellflower, was widely planted during the Gold Rush era. Felix offered them from 1890 on. Large to very large fruit, bright pale, yellow skin, whitish, firm succulent flesh that is tart at picking and mellows with storage. Highly esteemed for fresh eating when picked, and for its excellent dessert qualities, especially after held in storage for a few months. Great baked! Makes excellent sauce, juice and hard cider due to its natural acidity. Care at harvest, as it bruises with rough handling. Ripens in October and November. Improved yield with pollinator nearby. A favorite. The mother tree is a very consistent producer despite being in a geographically cold pocket. The fruit is remarkably yummy. At the foot of the mother tree is a Buddha statue which is why we call it Buddha's Belleflower.

The grandmother tree grows on an original mining homestead along the north fork of the Yuba River in the old mining town of Goodyears Bar, Sierra County @ 2700’ elevation. The brothers Miles and Andrew Goodyear, along with a Dr. Vaughan and a Mr. Morrison, prospected here in the summer of 1849 and found gold enough for their liking to settle down at this crossing of the Yuba River. The Goodyear boys built a sturdy cabin and before long the rich deposits attracted a number of miners to their camp, which was given the name Goodyears Bar in honor of its founders. Goodyears Creek was incredibly rich along its entire length, having been literally fed gold for thousands of years as it chewed through gold-bearing ledges and the beds of ancient rivers and streams. At one spot near the upper end of the bar, a group of men cleaned up $2,000 in gold from a single wheelbarrow of dirt.