Cox's Orange Pippin, in Britain often referred to simply as Cox, is an

apple An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...

cultivar A cultivar is a kind of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and which retains those traits when Plant propagation, propagated. Methods used to propagate cultivars include division, root a ...

first grown in 1825 or 1830 at

Colnbrook Colnbrook is a village in the Borough of Slough, Slough district in Berkshire, England. It lies within the historic counties of England, historic boundaries of Buckinghamshire, and straddles two distributaries of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (, abbreviated ''Bucks'') is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-east, Hertfordshir ...

, England, by the retired

brewer Brewing is the production of beer by steeping a starch source (commonly cereal grains, the most popular of which is barley) in water and fermenting the resulting sweet liquid with yeast. It may be done in a brewery by a commercial brewer, ...

and

horticulturist Horticulture (from ) is the art and science of growing fruits, vegetables, flowers, trees, shrubs and ornamental plants. Horticulture is commonly associated with the more professional and technical aspects of plant cultivation on a smaller and mo ...

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 Worcestershire ( , ; written abbreviation: Worcs) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It is bordered by Shropshire, Staffordshire, and the West Midlands (county), West ...

, and later in

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

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 A cherry is the fruit of many plants of the genus ''Prunus'', and is a fleshy drupe (stone fruit). Commercial cherries are obtained from cultivars of several species, such as the sweet '' Prunus avium'' and the sour '' Prunus cerasus''. The na ...

and

anise Anise (; '), also called aniseed or rarely anix, is a flowering plant in the family Apiaceae native to the eastern Mediterranean region and Southwest Asia. The flavor and aroma of its seeds have similarities with some other spices and herbs, ...

, 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 Cider ( ) is an alcoholic beverage made from the Fermented drink, fermented Apple juice, juice of apples. Cider is widely available in the United Kingdom (particularly in the West Country) and Ireland. The United Kingdom has the world's highest ...

and is also used to produce high-quality apple juice, particularly in artisanal or premium cold-pressed forms. *S genotype S5 S9. *Vitamin C 10 mg/100 gram *Density 0.85Petzold Herbert, Apfelsorten, 1990

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 Mildew is a form of fungus. It is distinguished from its closely related counterpart, mold, largely by its colour: molds appear in shades of black, blue, red, and green, whereas mildew is white. It appears as a thin, superficial growth consisti ...

, and

canker A plant canker is a small area of dead tissue, which grows slowly, often over years. Some cankers are of only minor consequence, but others are ultimately lethal and therefore can have major economic implications for agriculture and horticultur ...

, 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. 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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Sports

A number of

sports Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in ...

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.

Descendant cultivars

Cultivar name (female parent × male parent) *Acme (Cox's Orange Pippin × unknown) * Alkmene (Cox's Orange Pippin × Geheimrat Doktor Oldenburg) Malus domestica Allington Pippin 03

* Allington Pippin (Cox's Orange Pippin × King of the Pippins) *Anna Boelens (Cox's Orange Pippin × Freiherr von Berlepsch) *Apollo (Cox's Orange Pippin × Geheimrat Doktor Oldenburg) *Arthur W. Barnes (Gascoyne's Scarlet × Cox's Orange Pippin) *Barnack Orange (Cox's Orange Pippin × Barnack Beauty) *Barry (McIntosh × Cox's Orange Pippin) *Bountiful (Cox's Orange Pippin × Lane's Prince Albert) *Carswell's Honeydew (Cox's Orange Pippin × unknown) *Carswell's Orange (Cox's Orange Pippin × unknown) *Charles Ross' (Cox's Orange Pippin × Peasgood's Nonsuch) * 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 Golden Delicious is a cultivar of apple. It is one of the 15 most popular apple cultivars in the United States. It is not closely related to Red Delicious. History Golden Delicious arose from a chance seedling, possibly a hybrid of Grimes ...

) *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 × Cox Pomona) * 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 Red Delicious is a variety of apple with a red exterior and sweet taste. Known as "the Reds" in the industry, this variety is the result of a chance seedling. It was first recognized in Madison County, Iowa, in 1872. Despite its name, it is not r ...

) *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 'Worcester Pearmain' is an early season English cultivar of domesticated apple, that was developed in Worcester, England, by a Mr. Hale of Swanpool in 1874.

Worcester Pearmain 'Worcester Pearmain' is an early season English cultivar of domesticated apple, that was developed in Worcester, England, by a Mr. Hale of Swanpool in 1874.

) *Winter Gem (Cox's Orange Pippin × Grimes Golden) * Winston/Winter King (Cox's Orange Pippin × Worcester Pearmain)

References

10 Howard, N. P., Micheletti, D., Luby, J. J., Durel, C. E., Denancé, C., Muranty, H., … Albach, D. C. (2022). Pedigree reconstruction for triploid apple cultivars using single nucleotide polymorphism array data. Plants People Planet, (March), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp3.10313

External links

{{Authority control British apples Apple cultivars