From the Living Museum
Api Noir
- Origin
- France; another member of the Api / Lady Apple group
- Era
- Old French (Api group)
- Type / use
- Dessert · Fresh (Lady type)
History & Stories
Very small, nearly black-red fruit with firm, sweet, aromatic white flesh. Extremely late ripening and one of the best keepers of all apples (often lasting until spring). Unique for its dramatic dark color and its historical use both as a dessert fruit and as a Christmas/New Year ornamental apple.
Folklore & Name
Also Api group. ‘Noir’ = black, for the very dark skin. Historic use as both dessert and decorative Christmas/New Year apple because of its extreme keeping quality and striking appearance.
Digging into the History
Below my own notes, here is what the old fruit books and today’s collections record about this apple, kept apart from the stories people tell.
What we know
Api Noir, the "black Api," is a dark-skinned relative of the Lady apple. André Leroy (1867) admitted, "I have found nothing on the origin of the Api Noir." He noted that it had long been grown in Anjou, appeared in his grandfather's nursery catalogue in 1790, and was described by Duhamel in 1768 and by the Carthusian monks in 1775. He called it, with confidence, "one of our old apple trees" 1 (our translations).
The competing accounts
- André Leroy, 1867 1: "nothing on the origin"; long grown in Anjou, and described by Duhamel (1768) and the Carthusians (1775).
- Leroy's own guess 1: perhaps the apple Olivier de Serres listed in 1600 as dark in the bark and white in the flesh.
- Leroy 1: not to be confused with the Pomme Noire or Pomme de Dame described in 1670.
Most likely (our judgment, not a certainty): an old French apple on record since 1768. The 1600 identification is only Leroy's opinion.
What we think: stories & traditions
A 1600 mention? (Leroy's guess) Leroy thought it might be the apple Olivier de Serres listed in 1600 as "black in the bark and white in the flesh," though he offered this only as his opinion 1. He warned against confusing it with an apple called Pomme Noire or Pomme de Dame, described in 1670, which he considered quite different 1.
Even in 1867, Leroy said its cultivation was "very restricted," despite the tree's fertility and the fruit's lovely colour 1.
Sources
- André Leroy, Dictionnaire de pomologie, Vol. 3 (Pommes, A–F) (Paris/Angers, 1867), "Api noir." archive.org/details/dictionnairedepo03lero/mode/2up?q=%22Api+noir%22
Curious about Api Noir?
Email us at drgoss@honeytreeorchard.com.