According to all the historical sources they are different. I would read the Apples of New York descriptions and see which kind you have two of :-) They do sound pretty similar in the descriptions. I have only White Winter Pearmain so cannot give a first-hand comparison. In reading the descriptions I would say the uniformity of shape is a good marker -- WWP is quite uniform on my tree and Winter Banana sounds much more variable.

Scott
PS here they are.

WINTER BANANA.

Fruit large, clear pale yellow with beautiful contrasting pinkish-red blush, attractive in appearance, characteristically aromatic, of good dessert quality, but too mild in flavor to excel for culinary uses. The tree is a pretty good grower, comes into bearing young, is almost an annual bearer and yields moderate to rather heavy crops. In ordinary storage the fruit is in season from mid-November to the first of April, but its safe commercial limit in this climate probably would not extend much beyond December. In cold storage it ranks as a keeper about with Rhode Island Greening, but is not equal to Baldwin. It could perhaps be used to advantage commercially to follow the Maiden Blush and extend the season for fruit having the general appearance of that variety. As compared with Maiden Blush this is larger, neither as uniform nor as symmetrical, better for dessert use but less desirable for culinary purposes. Its color is such that it shows bruises more readily than do red apples like Baldwin or Tompkins King. It is sufficiently promising to be worthy of further testing where an apple of this color is desired.

Another variety which has been disseminated under the name Banana is a sweet apple. It is described on page 60 under the name Banana Sweet.

Historical. Winter Banana originated on the farm of David Flory near Adamsboro, Cass county, Ind., about 1876. It was introduced by Greening Brothers, Monroe, Michigan, in 1890 (4, 5). It has as yet been but little planted irv this state.

TREE.

Tree medium in size, vigorous. Form rather flat, spreading and somewhat inclined to droop, open. Twigs long, curved or nearly straight, moderately stout; internodes long. Bark reddish-brown mingled with olive-green, lightly and irregularly coated with scarf-skin, pubescent. Lenticels conspicuous, numerous, medium to large, round or slightly elongated, raised. Buds sunk in the bark, medium or above, plump, acute to obtuse, free, slightly pubescent.

FRUIT.

Fruit nearly large to very large, not very uniform in size or shape. Form roundish conic to oblong conic, or sometimes oblate and noticeably flat at the base, often irregularly elliptical and somewhat ribbed; axis sometimes oblique; sides often unequal. Stem short to moderately long, medium in thickness to rather slender. Cavity usually rather large, acute to acuminate, moderately shallow to deep, broad, gently furrowed, sometimes lipped, smooth or sometimes partly russeted. Calyx small to medium, partly open or sometimes closed; lobes convergent or connivent, short to medium length, obtuse to acute. Basin small to medium, often decidedly oblique, rather shallow to moderately deep, usually rather narrow but sometimes moderately wide, obtuse to rather abrupt, furrowed and wrinkled.

Skin smooth, moderately thick, tough, waxy, bright pale yellow, often with a blush which in well-colored specimens deepens to dark pinkish-red. Often a suture line extends from the basin nearly or quite to the cavity. Dots numerous, whitish and submerged or with fine russet point. Prevailing effect yellow with a pretty contrasting blush.

Caly.v tube wide above, rather short, cone-shape or funnel-form. Stamens median to marginal.

Core rather small to above medium, abaxile; cells not uniformly developed, usually symmetrical and open, sometimes closed; core lines somewhat clasping. Carpels elongated ovate, narrow, emarginate, tufted. Seeds often abortive; the plump ones vary from small to rather large and are more or less irregular, usually obtuse to acute, dull dark brown, sometimes tufted.

Flesh whitish tinged with pale yellow, moderately firm, a little coarse, somewhat crisp, tender, juicy, mild subacid, distinctly aromatic, good to very good.

WHITE PEARMAIN.

This is an old favorite dessert apple in portions of the Middle West from Ohio to Kansas. It appears to succeed better in those regions than it does in New York. It is not recommended for planting in this state.

Historical. Warder says " This favorite fruit was brought to Indiana by some of the early pomologists, in the days of saddle-bag transportation. In a lot of grafts, two varieties, having lost their labels, were propagated and fruited without name. Being considered Pearmain-shaped, they were called respectively Red and White Winter Pearmains. The former proved to he the Esopus Spitzenberg; the latter has never yet been identified, though believed to be an old eastern variety." For a time it was confused with an old New Jersey apple by the name of Michael Henry Pippin, and Elliott fell into the error of publishing White Pearmain and White Winter Pearmain as synonyms of Michael Henry Pippin* but it was finally conceded that White Pearmain and Michael Henry Pippin are distinct varieties (4, 7), In 1858 it was catalogued by the American Pomological Society as White Winter Pearmain (5). Since 1897 (13) it has been listed as White Pearmain but it is very doubtful whether this change will be generally accepted by fruit growers and fruit dealers. This variety has been little grown in New York and is now seldom or never planted here.

TREE.

Tree vigorous. Form spreading. Twigs short, stout, blunt at tips, generally straight; internodes vary from short to long. Bark reddish-brown overlaid with heavy scarf-skin, quite pubescent Lcnticels conspicuous, numerous, above medium, elongated, raised. Buds large, projecting, acute, quite pubescent, free.

FRUIT.

Fruit below medium to nearly large, uniform in size and shape. Form roundish ovate or roundish approaching oblong conic, varying to roundish conic, somewhat ribbed, pretty symmetrical. Stem medium to long. Cavity rather small to above medium, acute, deep, moderately narrow to broad, somewhat furrowed, sometimes russeted. Calyx medium to large, usually closed; lobes long, acute. Basin small to medium, oblique, shallow and obtuse to medium in depth and rather abrupt, medium in width, often distinctly furrowed, wrinkled, pubescent.

Skin tough, smooth, slightly waxen, pale yello\v, or at first greenish, writh a shade of brownish-red. Dots numerous, pale or russet, often submerged, usually larger and much elongated about the cavity.

Calyx tube long, conical.

Core medium to rather large; cells closed or partly open; core lines somewhat clasping. Carpels rather flat, broad or roundish-cordate, emarginate, mucronate, tufted. Seeds light brown, medium to large, rather wide, plump, obtuse to acute, tufted.

Flesh slightly tinged with yellow, firm, fine-grained, crisp, tender, juicy, mild subacid, sprightly, very pleasantly aromatic, very good to best.

Season December to March.

Wow, thanks for that information, the history suggests something interesting. Well, I am about to make a bold statement: as far as I can tell, White Winter pearmain IS the Winter banana, that's what got mixed up in the "saddlebags" as they say. If there is any difference in between the two, it's at the "sports" level, e.g. they may be slight mutations of one another.

I grow both, they are from a very high reputation nursery, Dave Wilson nursery, and for all I can see, they are 100% identical, I mean so much alike that it's impossible to tell them apart if you have the apples right in front of you and you are eating them.

There is still the possibility that I got bum trees, but now that I see the historical description, it's pretty obvious what is going on.

Axel, there are a fair number of things in the descriptions that are different, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. I would say that there is indeed a chance Winter Banana is a seedling or sport of WWP (WWP was well-known when Winter Banana came along, so it could not be the other way around). I have gotten bum trees from highly reputable nurseries so I don't put a whole lot of faith there. Even when making the best of efforts its hard to keep flawless records. If you want a second opinion give Dave Wilson a call and see what they have to say, and/or ask at Trees of Antiquity who also sells both. Maybe they know some pivotal difference to look for.

Scott

Axel:

The WWP is green with brown spots, and the WB is yellow with a red blush, smooth skin. Let them sit for a couple weeks on the counter: the WWP should be excellent, while the WB will be terrible. WWP is by far the superior variety.

my wwp tree makes yellow fruit with red blush and the ftuit tastes like banana, just like the wb. So I guess it must be mislabeled.

my wwp tree makes yellow fruit with red blush and the ftuit tastes like banana, just like the wb. So I guess it must be mislabeled.

White Winter Pearmain is/was grown at an apple orchard near Ojai, CA. In years past I have picked several from their trees. It is mostly green and firm. It is a very good apple when properly grown. For overall use I would pick it before Winter Banana. I suspect it would be much more popular if it had more color.

I have grown Winter Banana. For the most part, it was a disappointment. It is larger, yellow in color, and sometimes with a red blush. It can be used similarly to Red Rome, is a good baker, and makes good pies and sauce. Fresh eating isn't nearly as good as Red Rome and I never noticed the banana notes in the flavor. It is worth growing as a cooking apple, especially for pies.

winter banana is an amazingly good eating apple here, when tree ripened it has a definite strong banana flavor. I doubt it's a good apple for hot area because it goes mealy very quickly after it's picked at it's flavor peak. Less ripe wb store longer.

I can't vouch for wwp, because it seems my tree is mislabeled. It makes very large green-yellow fruits with rev blush and white dots and looks and tastes like a wb.

Winter Banana is a very good pollenator and a decent keeper. It does get Scab, but not really sensitive and it is pretty much free of mildew. Tends to over crop and can go biennial. I have it in my garden mostly for pollen, as it is not the very best flavor, but it is a good aromatic apple and has an attractive pink blush. In the Puget Sound area near Tacoma, it ripen in Mid October, depending on the season. This year it is not quite ripe cause we've had no warm weather to speak of.
I doubt they are the same apple.