- Identification.—[Raii. Hist.] ii. 1448. [Lang. Pom.] 134. t. lxxvi. f. 2. [Switz. Fr. Gard.] 138. [Mill. Dict.] [Hort. Soc. Cat.] ed. 3, n. 550.
- Figure.—[Ron. Pyr. Mal.] pl. xxii. f. 3.
Fruit, medium sized, two inches and a half wide, and two inches and a quarter high; abrupt pearmain-shaped. Skin, greenish-yellow, with a few faint streaks of red, and strewed with numerous large russety dots on the shaded side; but deep orange mottled and streaked with crimson, and covered with patches of thin grey russet, on the side next the sun. Eye, open, with reflexed segments, set in a wide, even, and plaited basin. Stalk, half-an-inch long, inserted in a rather shallow cavity, with a fleshy protuberance on one side of it. Flesh, greenish-white, tender, crisp, and very juicy, with a sugary and pleasant flavor.
An excellent old dessert apple; in use from November to February.
This is a very old variety. It is first mentioned by Ray, but is not enumerated in Meager’s list.
211. LONDON PIPPIN.—Lind.
- Identification.—Lind. in [Hort. Trans.] vol. iv. p. 67. [Fors. Treat.] ed. 7, 112. [Hort. Soc. Cat.] ed. 3, n. 410. [Rog. Fr. Cult.] 93.
- Synonymes.—Five-Crowned Pippin, [Fors. Treat.] ed. 3. 99. Royal Somerset, [Hort. Soc. Cat.] ed. 1. 971. New London Pippin, Ibid. 562.
- Figure.—[Ron. Pyr. Mal.] pl. xiv. f. 2.
Fruit, medium sized, two inches and three quarters broad, and two inches and a quarter high; roundish, and flattened, with a few ribs on the sides which increase in size towards the crown where they terminate in five prominent and equal ridges, from which circumstance it has been called the Five-Crowned Pippin. Skin, at first pale yellowish-green, changing to pale yellow or lemon color, with brownish-red on the side next the sun. Eye, small and closed, set in a rather shallow basin. Stalk, half an inch long, slender, and deeply inserted. Flesh, yellowish-white, firm, crisp, tender, and juicy, with a brisk and pleasant flavor.
An excellent culinary apple, and serviceable also for the dessert; it is in use from November to April, when it is perfectly sound and shows no symptoms of shrivelling.
The tree attains about the middle size, is not a strong grower, but quite hardy, and an excellent bearer.