Honey Tree Orchard & ApiaryCedar Bluff, Virginia

From the Living Museum

Court Pendu Plat

Origin
Continental Europe, probably France; first described about 1613 and believed much older; Roman antecedents claimed but unproven
Era
16th–17th c. (claims older)
Type / use
Dessert
Planted in the orchard
Court Pendu Plat: historic illustration, Deutsche Pomologie: Äpfel, plate 18 (1882)
Illustration: Wilhelm Lauche, Deutsche Pomologie: Äpfel, plate 18 (1882). Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped). All image credits

From the ArchiveFilm

Watch its story

The Wise Apple

A short narrated history of Court Pendu Plat, told through the archive illustrations of our apple collection.

Illustrations: "The Courtpendu Apple," Pomological Magazine, John Lindley (1829), and Wilhelm Lauche, Deutsche Pomologie: Äpfel, plate 18 (1882) (public domain). Narrated with a synthetic voice.

Watch on YouTube

History & Stories

One of the latest-flowering of all apples (the name ‘Court Pendu’ refers to its very short stalk; its late bloom earned it the separate nickname ‘Wise Apple’ 4,5). Small-to-medium, flattened fruit with russet and red flush; crisp, aromatic, sweet-sharp flesh and outstanding storage into spring. Unique for its extreme lateness of flowering (a major practical advantage in frost-prone sites) and its deep historical aura.

Folklore & Name

‘Court Pendu’ refers to the short stalk (‘court’ = short, ‘pendu’ = hanging), and ‘plat’ means flat 4; its extremely late flowering, which lets it escape spring frosts, earned it the English nickname ‘Wise Apple’ 5. One of the oldest French dessert apples with strong historical claims (sometimes linked, debatably, to Roman times). Valued for frost avoidance.

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

Court Pendu Plat is one of the oldest apples still grown. The UK National Fruit Collection says it originated in Europe and was "first described in about 1613 but believed to be much older" 1. The USDA's record adds that it was known in Britain in Tudor times 2, and A.J. Downing called it popular in France 3.

Robert Hogg explains the name: court pendu means "suspended short," because the stalk is so short that the fruit "sits, as it were, upon the branch," and plat means flat 4. Its other famous trait is very late flowering. Hogg wrote that its blossom opens "later than that of any other variety," so spring frost seldom touches it, "and hence it has been called the Wise Apple" 5.

It has collected a remarkable list of names. In England it was called Garnons, after a house near Hereford where it grew unnamed, and Wollaton Pippin, after Lord Middleton's seat in Nottinghamshire; in German it is Kurzstiel, "short stalk" 5. The National Fruit Collection lists more than a hundred synonyms 1. It is held in that collection and in the USDA collection at Geneva, New York, which received it from England in 1937 1,2.

The competing accounts

  • UK National Fruit Collection 1: originated in Europe; first described about 1613 and believed to be much older.
  • USDA GRIN 2: known in Britain in Tudor times. A.J. Downing 3: popular in France.
  • Royal Horticultural Society 6: possibly as old as Roman times. Robert Hogg 4,5 traces that idea to Dalechamp, who matched the old name Capendu with Pliny's Cestiana apple, and warns that Capendu was used for several different apples.

Most likely (our judgment, not a certainty): a continental European apple, probably French, grown for at least four hundred years. The early records are solid; the Roman link depends on matching names, which Hogg showed was unreliable.

What we think: stories & traditions

A Roman apple? (theory) The Royal Horticultural Society says it is "possibly dating back to Roman times" 6. Hogg shows where the idea comes from: the name "Capendu" appears in early botanical writers, and one of them, Dalechamp, identified it with the Cestiana apple of the Roman writer Pliny. Hogg also warns that those writers used "Capendu" for several different apples 4,5. So the Roman link is an old scholar's guess, not proof. Still, it is a lovely thought that this squat little apple, sitting tight against the branch, might have been picked in a Roman villa garden.

The Wise Apple. The nickname is a bit of orchard folk wisdom: the apple that waits until the frosts are past before it dares to bloom 5.

Sources

  1. UK National Fruit Collection, "Court Pendu Plat," accession 1948-328. www.nationalfruitcollection.org.uk/full2.php?fruit=apple&varid=1311
  2. USDA GRIN-Global, PI 123960 "Court Pendu Plat." npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/accessiondetail?accid=PI+123960
  3. A.J. Downing, The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (New York: J. Wiley, 1869 printing), "Court-pendu Plat," p. 131. archive.org/details/cu31924050513989/page/131
  4. Robert Hogg, The Apple and Its Varieties (London: Groombridge and Sons, 1859), "Court-Pendu Plat," pp. 64–65. archive.org/details/cu31924002812158/page/64
  5. Robert Hogg, The Fruit Manual, 5th ed. (London, 1884), "Court-pendu-plat," pp. 53–54. archive.org/details/fruitmanualguide00hoggrich/page/53
  6. Royal Horticultural Society, "Malus domestica 'Court Pendu Plat' (D)." www.rhs.org.uk/plants/86832/malus-domestica-court-pendu-plat-d/details

Curious about Court Pendu Plat?

Email us at drgoss@honeytreeorchard.com.