Monmouth Pippin

Monmouth Pippin  was reported as growing in the islands as early as 1891 and was widely available in regional nursery catalogs at the time (also listed as Red Cheek Pippin and at least once as "Mammoth Pippin"). The variety originated in Monmouth County New Jersey prior to 1848. However Monmouth is currently a "lost apple" and there are no reliably labeled examples of it in living or genetic reference collections. We think we have found living trees of Monmouth in orchards planted before 1894 on Orcas, San Juan, and one planted between 1889 and 1932 on Lopez (including the orchards at Moran State Park, Camp Orkila, and Camp Four Winds).  Based on genetic fingerprinting by WSU's MyFruitTree Project these trees match each other and also match trees identified as Goldridge by the Lost Apple Project in southern Washington, Oregon, and California. Goldridge was released by Luther Burbank in 1912 and it is possible that he had given a new name to what was previously sold as Monmouth Pippin. We are working with the Historic Fruit Tree Working Group of North America to decide if the data we have are sufficient to agree that we've rediscovered Monmouth Pippin.

The apples from these trees are large and green, often with a distinct red cheek. They are round and somewhat ribbed. The trees are productive and ripen very late in the season (late October into November) and keep extremely well. They are good fresh, improve in storage, and also excellent baked. Scions are available through our annual scion exchange and grafting workshops on Lopez, Orcas, and San Juan.

You can view watercolors of Monmouth Pippin in the USDA Pomological Watercolor Collection.