Today we received new and exciting DNA results. Two of our submissions—AMAL 082 and AMHO 470—are both Drap d’Or de Bretagne. Now we’ve found three trees of one of the most important historical apples in the world: the Cloth of Gold of Brittany, famous in Europe and an ancestor of dozens of North America’s most iconic apples.
These new discoveries make sense both geographically and phenotypically. All three trees are within twenty miles of one another. The first Drap d’Or de Bretagne we identified through DNA profiling, AMHO 504, is on Verona Island at the mouth of the Penobscot River. The second, AMHO 470, is right across the river in Prospect, less than ten miles away. The third, AMAL 082, is in Belfast about twenty miles down the coast from the first two. Phenotypically the three apples are identical.
Until the Verona Island tree was identified, Drap d’Or de Bretagne had never been found in the North America. AMHO 470 was found in Prospect by Pete Jenkins. Pete has been scouring that area for old trees for many years and has made some wonderful discoveries. I started to suspect that this one might be Drap d’Or even before I got decent specimens of the fruit. It was known locally (and emphatically) as “Old Maine Greening.” That sounded decidedly suspicious. OMG could have been the perfect local synonym for Drap d’Or. It was.
AMAL 082 was a marvel of good timing and good luck. Hannah Tays from Belfast brought the apples to Common Ground Fair last fall, arriving on Sunday—the last day of the Fair—about half an hour before closing time. She had forgotten the fruit and had to go back to get it. She almost arrived too late to get in. When those of us left at the Apple Tent saw her fruit, I think we all knew. I went to see the tree a few days later. It was the right age, and the fruit was identical to the Verona apple. By the time we submitted leaves for DNA analysis, it was pretty clear that we’d found two more trees. And so a great story continues. We’ve been grafting it like mad and passing around trees. I’ve also started a bunch of Drap d’Or seedlings. (If it produced great new apples a few centuries ago, why not now?) We set out two vigorous seedlings here on the farm just this past Sunday. Who knows what the future may have in store?
The Cloth of Gold! June Tyson and Sun Ra, 1979 (photo by Jared Crawford)
Final word: We all know Little Red Riding Hood with her red cloak and hood. And there’s Dolly Parton (and Joseph) with their coats of many colors. There were those psychedelic jackets worn by the Beatles in 1967. They were wild and I wanted to “drape” one over my shoulders too. Harry Potter wore the invisibility cloak. That was cool. But none of them beats the Drap d’Or—the Cloth of Gold—like the ones that June Tyson and Sun Ra wore.