So You Want To Know if Your Apple has a name

It’s amazing how many apple trees there are in Maine. You can find them arranged in rows in old fields, scattered throughout the thickest woodlots, standing like forgotten sentinels in parking lot islands or adjacent to industrial buildings, waving their branches at you from the side of the highway as you speed past, or spreading their leafy branches across the manicured lawn of a suburban backyard. And just as surprising as the varied places they grow is the number of people who are curious about the names of these apples. So much so that starting about mid-August our mailbox starts overflowing with boxes of apples sent by curious apple lovers from around the country in hopes that John can identify them. Local enthusiasts wait in line at the Common Ground Fair and at John’s talks just to hand him apples and share their stories. While many of the apples turn out to be seedlings (which means they have no official name), others are old favorites from more than 100 years ago. And every once in awhile, an apple turns up that is just the one John and his merry band of fruit explorers have been searching for - they love the mystery of it all.

If you have an apple you are curious about, before you mail it or bring it to John or someone else to identify, please take a few minutes to follow the steps below. Each step will provide some clues to the identity of your apple and help unravel its mysteries and history.

  • Step One: Determining Whether You Should Submit Your Apple for Phenotypic ID

    • Is the tree a wild seedling or grafted? Seedlings grown from seeds planted by wildlife or an apple core tossed from the window of a car do not have names. The only named varieties are those found on grafted trees that were propagated by nurseries, old timers on the farm or perhaps by your neighbor who took a MOFGA grafting class. For help understanding the difference, read Do You Have A Seedling Or A Grafted Tree? If you believe you have a seedling, there is no need to send us your apple because it won’t have a name. If your tree was grafted, then it may be of interest to us.

    • Is your tree old? Apple trees can live well over 100 years. Old trees can be massive or broken, hollow, turned inside out or growing in waves across the ground where a branch has fallen down and ressurected itself like a phoenix from the ashes. It is the apples from these ancient trees that are our highest priority to preserve and propagate. If your tree is grafted and old, then consider sending or bringing us your apples.

  • Step 2: Preparing your apples for ID

    • Collect 6-8 apples per variety/tree. Apples from the same tree can differ in size, shape and color so several specimens are needed to tease out the commonality between them and get an accurate picture of the apple.

    • Take three to four photos of your tree from different angles, including at least one photo of the tree in its entirety, and one close up of the trunk. It may be possible to see an old graft line on the tree or tell if the tree was once pruned and cared for in an orchard. Seeing photos of the tree will be helpful in identifying your apples. Once you get your apple ID number, email the photos to idapples@mofga.org.

    • Place apples in a paper bag, not plastic. Apples in plastic bags sweat and begin to rot almost immediately. Apples in paper bags keep surprisingly well.

    • Label the bag with your name.

    • Fill out a copy of our “Phonotypic Sample Submission Form” online or on paper. Complete one form for every apple variety that you submit to us.

      • For the online option, you can locate the form here and email it to idapples@mofga.org. If you are submitting multiple samples, make sure it is clear which bag of fruit corresponds to which submission form and which tree.

      • For the paper option, you can print the form yourself or pick one up at one of John’s talks or tastings. Place the completed form in the paper bag with your apples.

  • Step 3: Submitting your apples

    • Hand your samples to us in person at the Common Ground Country Fair, The Great Maine Apple Day or at John’s talks. We need a paper bag of each apple variety labeled with your name and a completed form. And don’t forget to email photos of your tree.

    • Not coming to an event? You can mail your samples to Apple IDs, P.O. Box 12, Palermo, ME 04354. Send a paper bag of each apple variety labeled with your name and a completed form. And don’t forget to email photos of your tree.

  • Step 4: Further correspondence

    • You can get in touch with us at idapples@mofga.org. This is the email we will use to reach out to you regarding updates on your samples.We will assign each of your apple samples a unique identification number. When contacting us, please indicate which apple(s) are yours by using your assigned identification number(s).

    • If you wish to conduct the apple identification investigation yourself, books like Dan Bussey’s six volume The Illustrated History of Apples of North America and Canada, Sean Turley’s Practical Pomology, John Bunker’s Apples and the Art of Detection and Out on a Limb’s Apple Varieties page may be useful in this process.

    • If you are interested in having your fruit genotypically profiled, visit MyFruitTree Project or be in touch with us to learn more about this side of the apple identification work.

Be patient. It can take time to identify apples, especially if you have something unusual. We don’t charge for this service, but we appreciate your donations to support the Maine Heritage Orchard at MOFGA in Unity. Our goal is to track down and preserve all the ancient apples of Maine, including the one in your back yard or just down the road.