Court Pendu Plat is a very rare, very old apple. The name probably means ''short stalk' in French. Believed to have been introduced to Britain by the Romans, it was widely cultivated in the days of Queen Elizabeth the First, and known as 'The wise apple' as it blossomed very late and so was not damaged by frost. It is now esxtremely rare, most people have never head of it, and of those who have heard of it, most have never seen or tasted one.
Light to medium but fairly regular cropper, small flattened apple, very rich flavour with a touch of pineapple which evidently was passed on to its descendant Suntan (Cox and Court Pendu Plat cross from 1955) whcih as I have mentioned elsewhere has wild tropical fruit flavours and long keeping qualities which it seems to have got from the genetics of this rare old apple.
The first written record is from 1613. No apple has any reliabkle rcords going further back than this, and it is lkely that this fruit was passed from gardener to gardener across the generations for many centuries. It was widely grown in France and Germany.
Rosanne Sanders says this apple should be picked in mid October and eaten December to April. It makes a small tree.
An extraordinary apple which MUST NOT be allowed to go extinct.
10 сен 2009
