Oslin
Apple
Oslin
Origin / History
A very old Scotch apple, supposed to have originated at Arbroath, or to have been introduced from France by the Monks of the Abbey which formerly existed at that place. The Herefordshire Pomona considers the French-introduction theory to be in all probability the correct one, although neither this name nor any of its synonyms are met with in modern French lists. The "Jardinier François," published in 1651, mentions an apple under the name "Orgeran" which is so similar in pronunciation to "Orgeline" that it may well be the same name with a change of orthography, especially as our ancestors were not over-particular in preserving unaltered the names of foreign introductions. Lindley records the tradition that it was originally brought to Scotland from France by the Monks of the Abbey of Arbroath in Angusshire, whence it is occasionally called the Arbroath Pippin; but he considers it more probable that it was raised there from seed, since it is not to be found at the present day among the continental varieties, and it is not to be supposed that a kind so much superior to the greater part of the apples of France, Germany, and Holland would have been lost in the country where it was first produced. According to Nicol (cited by Lindley), it is also called the Original Pippin from the circumstance of its growing freely by the branches when stuck into the ground. Bunyard gives the origin as "Scotch? (possibly French), probably dating from the seventeenth century," and characterizes the variety as "of no particular merit." Downing simply calls it "an excellent Scotch apple." The apple has been well figured in the Pomological Magazine, Pl. 5. Elliott classifies it as "Foreign."
Tree
Downing: vigorous and productive. The Herefordshire Pomona: grows freely, but is subject to canker as it grows old; upright habit, and bears freely. The branches are generally covered with a number of knobs, or burrs, which, when planted in the ground, take root readily and produce a fresh plant. Lindley adds that it is a great bearer. Bunyard: growth good; fertility good.
Wood (Lindley): strong, stiff, erect, dull grayish purple, downy when young, with a few whitish specks, which increase considerably in number as the wood becomes older.
Leaves (Lindley): nearly round, cordate at the base, evenly serrated, collapsing, green, and downy beneath, turning yellow in the autumn; petioles downy, slightly tinged with purple; stipules subulate. Bunyard: leaf medium, round, irregularly serrate.
Flowers (Lindley): middle-sized, slightly tinged with pink.
Fruit
Size: Medium sized, two inches and a half wide and two inches high (Herefordshire Pomona). Bunyard gives medium, 2¼ by 2. Downing reports below medium. Elliott calls it small.
Form: Roundish oblate, evenly and regularly formed (Herefordshire Pomona); oblate (Downing); roundish, depressed, without angles (Lindley); flattened round, regular (Bunyard); roundish (Elliott).
Stem / Stalk: Short and thick, inserted in a very shallow cavity (Herefordshire Pomona). Lindley: short, thick, not deeply inserted. Bunyard: stem short, in a narrow cavity.
Cavity: Very shallow (Herefordshire Pomona); not deeply inserted (Lindley); narrow (Bunyard).
Calyx / Eye: Scarcely at all depressed (Herefordshire Pomona). Lindley: eye rather prominent, with a few moderately sized plaits. Bunyard: eye closed, in a shallow basin.
Basin: Shallow (Bunyard); the Herefordshire Pomona's "scarcely at all depressed" eye and Lindley's "rather prominent" eye correspond to a very shallow or essentially absent basin.
Skin: Thick and membranous, of a fine pale yellow colour, and thickly strewed with brown dots; very frequently cracked, forming large and deep sinuosities on the fruit (Herefordshire Pomona). Downing: rather tough, clear lemon yellow when quite ripe, and sprinkled with a few grayish green dots. Lindley: skin remarkably thick and tough; colour pale bright lemon when the fruit is fully ripe, intermixed with a little bright green, and sprinkled with numerous spots of the same (green). Bunyard: pale yellow, thickly spotted. Elliott: pale yellowish.
Flesh / Flavor: Yellowish, firm, crisp and juicy, rich and sugary, with a highly aromatic flavour which is peculiar to this apple (Herefordshire Pomona). Downing: yellowish, firm, crisp, juicy, spicy aromatic; rated "Good." Lindley: inclining to yellow, hard, crisp, juicy, very rich, and highly flavoured; strongly perfumed with the aroma of anise. Bunyard: crisp, yellowish, sweet, aromatic. Elliott: firm, crisp, acid.
Praise from earlier writers: "This is an excellent apple," says Nichol, "as to flavour, it is out-done by none but the Nonpareil; over which it has this advantage, that it will ripen in a worse climate and a worse aspect." Lindley says of it: "This delicious variety is the best, except the Kerry Pippin, of all the early Summer Apples" (so quoted in the Herefordshire Pomona; in his own Pomologia Britannica, Lindley writes "the best, except the Kerry Pippin, of all the early autumn apples"). Lindley further remarks that it possesses the valuable property of keeping much better than most of the fruits that ripen about the same time, and if suffered to hang upon the tree until fully ripe and eaten immediately after being gathered, is scarcely equalled by any apple of any season — in short, it is indispensable to every fruit-garden, however small.
Core / Seeds: Not described in source.
Season
Ripe by the end of August and continues through September, but does not last long (Herefordshire Pomona). September (Downing). Ripens about the middle of August (Lindley). August (Elliott; Bunyard). Lindley notes it is remarkable for keeping much better than most fruits that ripen about the same time.
Uses
A dessert apple of the highest excellence (Herefordshire Pomona; Bunyard also classes it as Dessert). Considered indispensable to every fruit-garden, however small (Lindley). Bunyard, however, judges it "of no particular merit."
Subtypes / Variants
Not described in source.
Other
Lindley notes the variety is remarkable for its hardiness, beauty, and rich high-flavoured flesh. The branches' habit of producing knobs or burrs which root readily when stuck into the ground (as recorded by the Herefordshire Pomona and by Nicol via Lindley) is the origin of the "Original Pippin" name and the "Burr Knot" synonym.
Book Sources
Described in 5 period pomological works
Nursery Catalog Sources
Found in 3 catalogs (1900–1913) from Illinois
- Central Experimental Farm , Dominion Department of Agriculture, Agassiz, British Columbia (under test; Bulletin No. 3, Second Series) — 1900
- Benjamin Buckman (personal inventory) , Farmingdale , Illinois — 1901
- Benjamin Buckman (personal inventory) , Farmingdale , Illinois — 1913
View original book sources (5)
— Woolhope Naturalists Field Club, The Herefordshire Pomona (1885)PLATE XXVII.
OSLIN.
[Syn : Orglon; Orgeline; Arbroath Pippin; Original Pippin; Mother Apple; Golden Apple ; Burr knot; Summer Oslin.]
This is a very old Scotch Apple, supposed to have originated at Arbroath ; or to have been introduced from France by Monks of the Abbey, which formerly existed at that place. The latter opinion is in all probability, the correct one ; although this name, or any of the synonyms above given, are not now to be met with in any modern French lists. But in the "Jardinier Francois" which was published in 1651, an apple is mentioned under the name "Orgeran" which is so similar in pronunciation to "Orgeline," that it is not unlikely it may be the same name with a change of orthography, especially as our ancestors were not over particular in preserving unaltered the names of foreign introductions. This apple has been well figured in the Pomological Magazine, Pl. 5.
Description.—Fruit : medium sized, two inches and a half wide, and two inches high ; roundish oblate, evenly and regularly formed. Skin : thick and membranous, of a fine pale yellow colour, and thickly strewed with brown dots ; very frequently cracked, forming large and deep sinuosities on the fruit. Eye : scarcely at all depressed. Stalk : short and thick, inserted in a very shallow cavity. Flesh : yellowish, firm, crisp and juicy, rich and sugary, with a highly aromatic flavour, which is peculiar to this apple.
A dessert apple of the highest excellence ; ripe by the end of August, and continues through September, but does not last long. "This is an excellent apple," says Nichol, "as to flavour, it is out-done by none but the Nonpareil; over which it has this advantage, that it will ripen in a worse climate and a worse aspect." Lindley says of it "This delicious variety is the best, except the Kerry Pippin, of all the early Summer Apples."
The tree grows freely, but is subject to canker as it grows old ; it has an upright habit, and bears freely. The branches are generally covered with a number of knobs, or burrs, which when planted in the ground take root readily and produce a fresh plant.
— A.J. Downing, The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1900)Oslin. White Oslin. Arbroath Pippin. An excellent Scotch Apple. Tree vigorous and productive. Fruit below medium size. Form oblate. Skin rather tough, clear lemon yellow when quite ripe, and sprinkled with a few grayish green dots. Flesh yellowish, firm, crisp, juicy, spicy aromatic. Good. September.
— John Lindley, Pomologia Britannica, Vol. 1 (1841)THE OSLIN APPLE.
Oslin Apple. Hort. Soc. Fruit Catalogue, p. 134. Oslin Pippin. Nicol's Fruit and Kitchen Gardener, ed. 4. p. 255. Gardener's Calendar, ed. 4. p. 164. Original Pippin, of some. Oslin Pippin or Arbroath Pippin. Forsyth's Treatise, ed. 7. p. 119. Orgeline or Orgiline. Forsyth's Treatise on Fruit Trees, ed. 5. p. 119.
This delicious variety is the best, except the Kerry Pippin, of all the early autumn apples. It ripens about the middle of August, and is remarkable for its hardiness, beauty, and rich high-flavoured flesh, which is strongly perfumed with the aroma of anise: it possesses also the valuable property of keeping much better than most of the fruits that ripen about the same time. It is a great bearer; and if suffered to hang upon the tree until fully ripe, and eaten immediately after being gathered, is scarcely equalled by any apple of any season: in short, it is indispensable to every fruit-garden, however small.
There is a tradition that it was originally brought to Scotland, from France, by the monks of the Abbey of Arbroath in Angusshire, whence it is occasionally called the Arbroath Pippin: but it is more probable that it was raised there from seed, as it is not to be found at the present day among the continental varieties; and it is not to be supposed that a kind so much superior to the greater part of the apples of France, Germany, and Holland, would have been lost in the country where it was first produced.
According to Nicol, this is also called the Original Pippin, from the circumstance of its growing freely by the branches when stuck into the ground.
WOOD strong, stiff, erect, dull grayish purple, downy when young, with a few whitish specks, which increase considerably in number as the wood becomes older.
LEAVES nearly round, cordate at the base, evenly serrated, collapsing, green, and downy beneath, turning yellow in the autumn; petioles downy, slightly tinged with purple; stipules subulate.
FLOWERS middle-sized, slightly tinged with pink.
FRUIT roundish, depressed, without angles; eye rather prominent, with a few moderately sized plaits; STALK short, thick, not deeply inserted; COLOUR pale bright lemon when the fruit is fully ripe, intermixed with a little bright green, and sprinkled with numerous spots of the same. SKIN remarkably thick and tough. FLESH inclining to yellow, hard, crisp, juicy, very rich, and highly flavoured.
— F.R. Elliott, The Western Fruit Book (1865)OSLIN. Arbroath Pippin. Foreign. Small, roundish, pale yellowish ; flesh, firm, crisp, acid. August.
— E.A. Bunyard, A Handbook of Hardy Fruits (1920)OSLIN. Ronalds, p. 6. (Arbroath Pippin, Burr Knot, Mother, Original Pippin, Summer Oslin.) Dessert, August, medium, 2¼ by 2, flattened round, regular. Colour, pale yellow, thickly spotted. Flesh, crisp, yellowish, sweet, aromatic. Eye, closed, in a shallow basin. Stem, short in a narrow cavity. Growth, good; fertility, good. Leaf, medium, round, irregularly serrate. Origin, Scotch? (possibly French) probably dating from the seventeenth century. Of no particular merit.