Red Ingestrie
AppleRed Ingestrie
Origin / History
Thomas calls it English; Elliott lists it as foreign. Red Ingestrie and its sister the Yellow Ingestrie sprang from two seeds taken from the same cell of an Orange Pippin "which had been impregnated with the pollen of the Old Golden Pippin" (Lindley). Bunyard gives the cross as Orange × Golden Pippin.
Lindley says the pair were raised about the year 1800 by the President of the Horticultural Society and planted at his then place, Wormsley Grange, in Herefordshire. Downing names the raiser as Mr. Knight, and Bunyard as T. A. Knight, about 1800. The name was derived from the seat of the Earl Talbot in Staffordshire. The variety was first brought into notice in March 1811 by a communication, accompanied by grafts, from Mr. Knight to the Horticultural Society. It was published in the Horticultural Transactions (vol. i, p. 227) as the Red Ingestrie Pippin, and it appears in the Horticultural Society's Fruit Catalogue (p. 125, no. 481) as the Red Ingestrie Apple.
Downing calls it "greatly admired as a dessert Apple in England, but not here." Thomas says it is "Of little value here." Bunyard (1920) says it is "Now rarely met with."
Tree
Growth vigorous, spreading (Bunyard). Bears in great abundance, either as a standard or as a dwarf tree (Lindley).
Wood wiry, dark purplish brown, covered with a broken, slate-colored epidermis. Buds and the extremities of the shoots densely covered with black hairs (Lindley).
Leaves middle-sized, regularly serrated; acutely ovate and very downy beneath and on the footstalks (Lindley); oval (Bunyard).
Fruit
Size: Small; 2¼ by 2 (Bunyard). Lindley puts it at about the size of a large Golden Pippin.
Form: Oblong to ovate. Lindley gives it as roundish oblong, "wholly destitute of angles." Bunyard calls it square, regular.
Stem: Short, slender.
Cavity: Narrow (Bunyard).
Calyx: Small, with a hollow, open eye (Lindley). Bunyard also calls the eye open.
Basin: Wide (Downing); moderately deep (Bunyard).
Skin: Bright yellow to golden yellow, tinged, mottled, or marbled with red on the sunny side. Bunyard gives a red flush with faint stripes. Lindley calls it "very similar in colour to a well-matured Golden Reinette."
Dots: Many indistinct white spots (Lindley).
Flesh and flavor: Flesh yellow to yellowish, firm to very firm, crisp, juicy. Flavor rich, high flavored, sprightly (Elliott). Lindley calls it "nearly as high flavoured as that of the Golden Pippin." Downing rates it "Good"; Bunyard writes "flavour, good."
Core and seeds: Not described in source.
Season
Autumn. Most authors give September and October. Lindley gives ripening at the end of October and says the fruit "is not in perfection after having been gathered a few weeks."
Uses
Dessert. Lindley calls it "an excellent table apple."
Subtypes / Variants
Not described in source.
Other
Lindley's drawing was made at Mr. Kirke's Nursery "last autumn." Bunyard cites Ronalds, Pl. 1.
Book Sources
Described in 5 period pomological works
Nursery Catalog Sources
Found in 1 catalog (1845) from Massachusetts
- Winship's Nursery (Brighton Nurseries , operated by the Winship family), Brighton (Boston) , Massachusetts — 1845
View original book sources (5)
— John Lindley, Pomologia Britannica, Vol. 1 (1841)THE RED INGESTRIE APPLE.
Red Ingestrie Apple. Hort. Soc. Fruit Catalogue, p. 125, no. 481. Red Ingestrie Pippin. Hort. Trans. vol. i. p. 227.
This, and its sister the Yellow Ingestrie, sprang from two seeds taken from the same cell of an Orange Pippin which had been impregnated with the pollen of the Old Golden Pippin. They were raised by the President of the Horticultural Society, about the year 1800, and were planted at his then Place called Wormsley Grange, in Herefordshire: their name was derived from the seat of the Earl Talbot in Staffordshire. They were first brought into notice by a communication, accompanied by grafts, made by Mr. Knight to the Horticultural Society in March 1811.
It is an excellent table apple, ripening in the end of October, and very similar in colour to a well-matured Golden Reinette. It is not in perfection after having been gathered a few weeks. It bears in great abundance, either as a standard or dwarf tree.
Our drawing was made at Mr. Kirke's Nursery last autumn.
WOOD wiry, dark purplish brown, covered with a broken, slate-coloured epidermis, the buds and extremities of the shoots densely covered with black hairs.
LEAVES middle-sized, acutely ovate, regularly serrated, very downy beneath and on the footstalks.
FRUIT roundish oblong, about the size of a large Golden Pippin, with a small calyx and hollow open eye, wholly destitute of angles.
STALK short, slender.
SKIN bright yellow, tinged with red on the sunny side, with many indistinct white spots.
FLESH yellowish, firm, juicy, and rich; nearly as high flavoured as that of the Golden Pippin.
— F.R. Elliott, The Western Fruit Book (1865)Red Ingestrie. Foreign. Small, oblong ovate, yellow, marbled with red ; flesh, firm, sprightly. September. October.
— A.J. Downing, The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1900)Red Ingestrie. Raised by Mr. Knight. This is greatly admired as a dessert Apple in England, but not here. Fruit small, oblong or ovate, with a wide basin at the eye, and a short and slender stalk. Bright yellow, tinged and mottled with red on the sunny side. Flesh very firm, juicy, and high flavored. Good. Ripens in September and October.
— John J. Thomas, The American Fruit Culturist (1903)Red Ingestrie. Small, ovate, yellow and red; firm, rich. Autumn. English. Of little value here.
— E.A. Bunyard, A Handbook of Hardy Fruits (1920)RED INGESTRIE. Ronalds, Pl. 1. F., Ingestrie Rouge ; G., Roter Pepping von Ingestrie. Dessert, September to October, small, 2¼ by 2, square, regular. Colour, golden-yellow with red flush and faint stripes. Flesh, crisp, juicy, yellow ; flavour, good. Eye, open, in a moderately deep basin. Stem, slender in a narrow cavity. Growth, vigorous, spreading. Leaf, medium, oval, regularly serrate. Origin, raised by T. A. Knight, about 1800 (Orange × Golden Pippin). Now rarely met with.