Red Ingestrie
AppleOrigin/History
Raised by Thomas Andrew Knight, President of the Horticultural Society, about the year 1800 at his place then called Wormsley Grange, in Herefordshire. The 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). 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. Greatly admired as a dessert Apple in England, but according to Downing and Thomas of little value in America. Lindley's drawing was made at Mr. Kirke's Nursery. By Bunyard's time (1920) it was "now rarely met with."
Tree
Growth vigorous, spreading (Bunyard). Bears in great abundance, either as a standard or dwarf tree (Lindley).
Wood: wiry, dark purplish brown, covered with a broken, slate-coloured epidermis; the buds and extremities of the shoots densely covered with black hairs (Lindley).
Leaves: middle-sized / medium, acutely ovate (Lindley) / oval (Bunyard), regularly serrated, very downy beneath and on the footstalks (Lindley).
Fruit
Size: small; Bunyard gives 2¼ by 2 inches; Lindley notes "about the size of a large Golden Pippin."
Form: Sources describe the form variously: oblong or ovate (Downing); roundish oblong, wholly destitute of angles (Lindley); oblong ovate (Elliott); ovate (Thomas); square, regular (Bunyard).
Stem/Stalk: short and slender (Downing, Lindley); slender, in a narrow cavity (Bunyard).
Cavity: narrow (Bunyard). Not otherwise described in sources.
Calyx/Eye: small calyx with a hollow open eye (Lindley); eye open, in a moderately deep basin (Bunyard); wide basin at the eye (Downing).
Basin: wide (Downing); moderately deep (Bunyard).
Skin: bright yellow / golden-yellow, tinged and mottled with red on the sunny side (Downing); bright yellow, tinged with red on the sunny side, with many indistinct white spots (Lindley); yellow, marbled with red (Elliott); yellow and red (Thomas); golden-yellow with red flush and faint stripes (Bunyard). Lindley compares the colour to a well-matured Golden Reinette.
Flesh/Flavor: yellowish / yellow, firm, juicy, and rich / high flavored (Downing, Lindley); nearly as high flavoured as that of the Golden Pippin (Lindley); firm, sprightly (Elliott); firm, rich (Thomas); crisp, juicy, yellow, flavour good (Bunyard).
Core/Seeds: Not described in source.
Season
Ripens in September and October (Downing, Elliott, Bunyard); end of October (Lindley); autumn (Thomas). Lindley notes it "is not in perfection after having been gathered a few weeks."
Uses
Dessert / table apple (Lindley, Bunyard); greatly admired as a dessert Apple in England (Downing); of little value in America (Downing, Thomas).
Subtypes/Variants
Sister variety, the Yellow Ingestrie, was raised from a seed in the same cell of the parent Orange Pippin (Lindley).
Other
Lindley cites: Red Ingestrie Apple, Hort. Soc. Fruit Catalogue, p. 125, no. 481; Red Ingestrie Pippin, Hort. Trans. vol. i. p. 227. Bunyard cites: Ronalds, Pl. 1.
Book Sources
Described in 5 period pomological works
View original book sources (5)
— 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 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.
— 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.