Very hardy, precocious, and productive, the mature Duchess is a roundish, mid-sized tree that is quite easy to grow. It is resistant to all major apple diseases with the exception of fireblight. As an antique variety, it does tend to biennialism and will need to be thinned diligently to maintain annual bearing.

Primarily a culinary apple, Duchess has red stripes and blush over a greenish yellow background, and it is speckled with russet lenticels. The flesh is tinged yellow, fine grained, firm, and aromatic. The flavor is too acidic to make it an attractive dessert apple, but it is an outstanding cooking apple. Duchess does not store well, but it can be picked before it is fully ripe and it has a long harvest season that requires several pickings and makes it a great apple for the home grower.

Duchess was among the first four Russian apples to arrive in America, imported from London by the Massachusetts Horticultural Society in 1835. The other three were Alexander, Tetovsy, and Red Astrachan.