Orange Pippin

[NOTE: Source text may be incorrect. Beach says at least two varieties have been known in this country as Orange Pippin: an old apple associated with Normandy and the Isle of Wight, and a New Jersey summer market apple. Bunyard says "there seem to be two varieties under this name," his own and "a large fruit of the Blenheim style." Downing describes an Isle of Wight Pippin in a separate entry that carries Orange Pippin among its names; it is merged here.]

Origin / History

Orange Pippin is an old apple. Downing says it originated in Normandy. Beach says the apple was disseminated from the Isle of Wight, where, "as some have supposed," it was brought from Normandy; it has accordingly also been called the Isle of Wight Pippin. Downing gives the Isle of Wight Pippin a separate entry as "a very old Apple." Bunyard (1920), citing Ronalds, p. 16, gives the origin as unknown. He says Orange Pippin "has been grown in England at least 200 years" and is now little cultivated.

Beach's references run from Forsyth (1803) onward. He warns that they "are not all to the same variety," because in many cases it is uncertain which variety a writer had in mind. His own description of the Isle of Wight apple is drawn from Lindley (1833) and Downing (1872). Beach says at least two varieties have been known "in this country" under the name Orange Pippin. Neither is "now considered of superior value by fruit growers," and both are going out of cultivation. The Isle of Wight apple was entered on the list of the American Pomological Society in 1869, dropped in 1871, and re-entered in 1873.

Lowther (1914) records Orange Pippin as reported by 2 stations in the Northern Division, 7 in the Central Division, and 1 in the Southern Division; in each case the variety is also reported in another division.

Tree

Growth good; fertile (Bunyard).

Fruit

Size: Small to very large. Downing, Lowther, and Bunyard give medium, and Bunyard measures it 3 by 2. Downing's Isle of Wight Pippin is small, as is the apple of George Bunyard & Co.'s catalog (1901). Rivers' catalog (1914) alone calls it "very large."

Form: Roundish (Downing, for both his Orange Pippin and his Isle of Wight Pippin) to oblate (Lowther) or flattened round and regular (Bunyard).

Stem: Slender (Bunyard).

Cavity: Fairly deep (Bunyard).

Calyx: Eye closed (Bunyard).

Basin: Shallow (Bunyard).

Skin: Yellow to rich orange yellow, colored on the sunny side with bright orange, with orange and red, or with a red flush; Lowther's table gives yellow-red. Beach describes the skin as yellowish and golden gray russeted, highly colored with orange and red on the sunny side. Downing's Isle of Wight Pippin sometimes has a brownish cheek. "Handsome" (Rivers).

Dots: Not described in source.

Flesh and flavor: Flesh firm and crisp (Downing); Bunyard gives it tender and yellow. Flavor pleasant acid (Downing). Downing's Isle of Wight Pippin is firm, juicy, rich, aromatic, and acid. Against these acid descriptions, George Bunyard & Co. call the fruit "sweetly flavored." Bunyard gives the flesh as "of fair flavour." Lowther's table rates the quality "very good," and Rivers calls it "a most excellent apple."

Core and seeds: Not described in source.

Season

The recorded season runs from October into February. The dated descriptions mostly close it in December or January: October to January (Downing), till January (Bunyard), and October to December (Rivers). Downing's Isle of Wight Pippin stands later, at January and February. Lowther's table gives winter. George Bunyard & Co. say the fruit "keeps fine, keeps throughout winter," and call it "excellent fruit for the cooler."

Uses

Dessert, cider, kitchen, and market. Downing values his Orange Pippin mainly as a cider fruit. Beach calls it suitable for dessert, and Bunyard classes it as a dessert apple. Downing reports that Ronalds describes the Isle of Wight Pippin as fine for dessert. Lowther's table gives both kitchen and market, and George Bunyard & Co. call it "excellent for any purpose."

Subtypes / Variants

A second Orange Pippin is grown in some parts of New Jersey. Downing says it differs from the European apple and that he was unable to obtain its history or description. Beach describes it as a profitable summer market apple of unknown origin. Tree vigorous, at first upright but eventually spreading; a reliable biennial cropper. Fruit medium or above, pale yellow with some orange red in the sun. Flesh white, half fine, tender, pleasant subacid. Season September and October.

Bunyard also notes a second variety under the name Orange Pippin: "a large fruit of the Blenheim style."

Other

Not described in source.