appleIdentification of Cider Apples in the UKapple


Identification of any apples can be difficult. Identification of cider apples is a really specialist job and very few people have the experience to do it.  A very good source of information can be found on the Marcher Apple Network Vintage Fruit CD. This contains reproductions of a number of hard-to-obtain Pomonas and other guides and is invaluable.  Liz Copas's Cider Apples - The New Pomona is another source.

But one thing not generally available is a 'dichotomous key' for cider apple ID. Such a key was published by Ray Williams and Robin Child in the Long Ashton Research Station Annual Report© for 1965. Since this is so difficult to come by, I've scanned a copy as a PDF and you can find it here as a 4 MB download. Apart from the simple key, it provides detailed descriptions of many cider fruits too.

The Long Ashton Cider Apple Key© (4 MB PDF Download)


For dessert apples, you may find the Fruit ID website useful although currently it includes no cider apples.

For a gold plated job, you can pay for DNA fingerprinting at East Malling. All the dessert and cider varieties in the Brogdale collection are in their database, so this is a very valuable modern resource.
 


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Page last updated 27th August 2017