Cox's Orange Pippin

Cox's Orange Pippin, in Britain often referred to simply as Cox, is an apple cultivar first grown in 1825, at Colnbrook in Buckinghamshire, England, by the retired brewer and horticulturist Richard Cox. Though the parentage of the cultivar is unknown, Ribston Pippin seems a likely candidate. DNA analysis of major apple pedigrees has suggested Margil as the parent of Cox, with Ribston Pippin being another Margil seedling. The variety was introduced for sale by the 1850s by Charles Turner, and grown commercially from the 1860s, particularly in the Vale of Evesham in Worcestershire, and later in Kent.

Description and uses

'Cox's Orange Pippin' is highly regarded for its excellent flavour and attractive appearance. The apples are of medium size, orange-red in colour, deepening to bright red and mottled with carmine over a deep yellow background. The flesh is very aromatic, yellow-white, fine-grained, crisp, and very juicy. Cox's flavour is sprightly subacid, with hints of cherry and anise, becoming softer and milder with age. When ripe apples are shaken, the seeds make a rattling sound as they are only loosely held in the apple's flesh.

Cox's Orange Pippin is often blended with other varieties in the production of cider.

Cultivation

According to the Institute of Food Research, Cox's Orange Pippin accounts for over 50% of the UK acreage of dessert apples. The tree is a moderate grower and is annually productive. However, it can be difficult to grow in many environments, and tends to be susceptible to diseases such as scab, mildew, and canker, so it is rarely grown commercially in North America. Cox's Orange Pippin is also grown in Belgium and in the Netherlands, countries with a climate similar to that of Great Britain. A number of sports of Cox's Orange Pippin have been discovered over subsequent years and propagated. These retain "Cox" in their names, e.g., Cherry Cox, Crimson Cox, King Cox, and Queen Cox. In addition to the cultivation of Cox sports, apple breeders have hybridised Cox with other varieties to improve vigour, disease resistance, and yield, while attempting to retain the unique qualities of Cox's flavour.Apple Breeding in New Zealand
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Descendant cultivars

Cultivar name (female parent × male parent)

*Acme (Cox's Orange Pippin × unknown)
*Alkmene (Cox's Orange Pippin × Geheimrat Doktor Oldenburg)

*Allington Pippin)
*Clivia (Geheimrat Doktor Oldenburg × Cox's Orange Pippin);K. M. Evans, A. Patocchi, F. Rezzonico, F. Mathis, C. E. Durel, F. Fernández-Fernández, A. Boudichevskaia, F. Dunemann, M. Stankiewicz-Kosyl, L. Gianfranceschi, M. Komjanc, M. Lateur, M. Madduri, Y. Noordijk, W. E. van de Weg (2011)
Genotyping of pedigreed apple breeding material with a genome-covering set of SSRs: trueness-to-type of cultivars and their parentages
. ''Molecular Breeding'' 28 (4): 535–547.
*Clopton Red (Cox's Orange Pippin × unknown)
*Cobra (Cox's Orange Pippin' × Bramley's Seedling)
*Downton Pippin (Cox's Orange Pippin × Golden Pippin)
*Dukat (Golden Delicious × Cox's Orange Pippin) or (Geheimrat Doktor Oldenburg × Cox's Orange Pippin)
*Dunning (Cox's Orange Pippin × McIntosh)
*Eden (John Standish × Cox's Orange Pippin)
*Edith Hopwood (Cox's Orange Pippin × unknown)
* Ellison's Orange (Cox's Orange Pippin × Cellini)
*Elstar (Golden Delicious × Cox's Orange Pippin)
*Fiesta (Cox's Orange Pippin × Idared)
*Francis (Cox's Orange Pippin × unknown)
*Freyburg (Cox's Orange Pippin × Golden Delicious)
*Gloucester Cross (Cox's Orange Pippin × unknown)
*Golden Nugget (Golden Russet × Cox's Orange Pippin)
*Hereford Cross (Cox's Orange Pippin × unknown)
*Herefordshire Russet (Cox's Orange Pippin × Idared)
*High View Pippin (Sturmer Pippin × Cox's Orange Pippin)
*Holstein (Cox's Orange Pippin × unknown)
*Ingrid Marie (Cox's Orange Pippin × Guldborg)
*James Grieve apple (Cox's Orange Pippin × Potts' Seedling)
*Jupiter (Cox's Orange Pippin × Starking Delicious)
*Karmijn de Sonneville (Cox's Orange Pippin × Jonathan)
*Kent (Cox's Orange Pippin × Jonathan)
* Kidd's Orange Red (Cox's Orange Pippin × Red Delicious)
*King George V (Cox's Orange Pippin × unknown)
*Langley Pippin (Cox's Orange Pippin × Gladstone)
*Laxton's Advance (Cox's Orange Pippin × Gladstone)
*Laxton's Epicure (Wealthy × Cox's Orange Pippin)
*Laxton's Exquisite (Cellini × Cox's Orange Pippin)
*Laxton's Fortune (Cox's Orange Pippin × Wealthy)
*Laxton's Pearmain (Cox's Orange Pippin × Wyken Pippin)
* Laxton's Superb (Cellini × Cox's Orange Pippin)
*Laxton's Triumph (King of the Pippins × Cox's Orange Pippin)
*Lucullus (Jonathan x Cox Orange Pippin)
*Lynn's Pippin (Cox's Orange Pippin × Ellison's Orange)
*Meridien (Cox's Orange Pippin × Falstaff)
*Merton Beauty (Ellison's Orange × Cox's Orange Pippin)
*Merton Charm (McIntosh × Cox's Orange Pippin)
*Merton Russet (Sturmer Pippin × Cox's Orange Pippin)
*Merton Worcester (Cox's Orange Pippin × Worcester Pearmain)
*Tydeman's Late Orange (Laxton's Superb × Cox's Orange Pippin)
*Tydeman's October Pippin (Cox's Orange Pippin × Ellison's Orange)
*William Crump (Cox's Orange Pippin × Worcester Pearmain)
* Winston/Winter King (Cox's Orange Pippin × Worcester Pearmain)

Sports (mutations)

A number of Sports of Cox's Orange Pippin have been selected.

*Queen Cox (A self-fertile sport)
*Cherry Cox (A sport that is more red than Cox's Orange Pippin and has mild cherry candy flavor)

References

Further reading

*Bunyard, E. A. (1920) ''A Handbook of Fruits''
*Sanders, Rosanne (1988) ''The English Apple''
*Visser, J. (1983) ''Effect of the ground-water regime and nitrogen fertilizer on the yield and quality of apples: results of a ground-water level experimental field with the apple varieties Golden Delicious and Cox's Orange Pippin on a young calcerous marine clayey soil''. Lelystad: Ministerie van Verkeer en Waterstaat

External links

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British apples
Apple cultivars