This apple tree on the WoodenBoat campus reportedly is over 100 years old and it still produces good looking fruit. (That’s the WoodenBoat Store behind the tree.) Part of the reason for this tree’s longevity has to be its hardy stock, another part likely is because it gets plenty of sun and tender loving care and is in a well-drained area.
The literature states that standard (non-dwarf) apple trees usually live from 60 to more than 100 years, depending on their care and environment. My guess is that this gnarly specimen is a Dabinett apple tree, a traditional English hard cider apple tree, many of which came over with Europeans who settled in Maine and Vermont. Here are a few images of its fruit:
Maine reportedly is home to well over 100 different apple varieties, with the Maine Heritage Orchard documenting over 300 distinct types of the fruit, some dating back to the 17th century. A Drap d’Or Bretagna apple tree, an heirloom French variety on Verona Island, Maine, is estimated to be more than 200 years old and one of the oldest apple trees in the state and North America.
The oldest known apple tree may be Isaac Newton's Apple Tree at Woolsthorpe Manor in Lincolnshire, England. Its remaining part is estimated to be over 370 years old and reportedly continues to produce Flower of Kent variety apples, which are best known as cooking and baking fruits. (Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on September 22, 2025.)