This tree is annual bearing and low vigor, with an upright but droopy habit. It is tip bearing, so care should be taken when pruning. Very easy to grow, St. Edmund's Russet is resistant to powdery mildew, scab, cedar-apple rust, and canker. Of all the major diseases, it is susceptible only to fireblight. Although it is partially self-fertile, better crops will be obtained from this tree in the presence of a pollenizer.

The mid-season apple is flattish and fully covered in a smooth, velvety, pale fawn russet. The flavor is exceptional when fully ripe. In Apples of Uncommon Character, Rowan Jacobsen writes: "Like vanilla pudding infused with pear essence. Early in the season, the richness can be masked by a blast of lemony acid, but this gives way to a yellow-cake flavor." The texture is finely grained, crisp, and meltingly delicate. St Edmund's Russet is not a storage apple; eat it quick!

Originating from the town of Bury St. Edmunds in Suffolk, England, this apple was first raised by a Mr. R. Harvey in the late 1800s. It was popularized in the 1900s by Bunyard's Nursery of Kent, and in 1993 it won the Royal Horticultural Society Award of Garden Merit. The eponymous Saint Edmund was a devoutly Christian ruler of East Anglia who was killed (at great length) by some invading Danes in 870. In Christian iconography he is portrayed with a sword and arrow, the instruments by which he was tortured.