GOT has been involved with a wide range of research on local fruit varieties, especially their conservation and identification. This page introduces some of that work and provides links to other sources.
Identification
For more information on identification please visit our Identification Advice page – and for a general account what we know about fruit varieties of our area so far consult our Gloucestershire Pomona Books – available from the links below or in the side bar.
DNA Research
During the last few years (2016 onwards) some very exciting research has been taking place nationally and locally on the DNA of our historic varieties. GOT and HHT have been contributing samples of many of the named varieties in our local collections. We are working with many other orchard and fruit groups nationwide in this work – which will rationalise our understanding of historic varieties. We are all a little nervous too – as the DNA work may, or may not, agree with established thinking and some upsets are likely!
September 2020 Review
Ainsleigh Rice from the Marcher Apple Network has recently written a very interesting and useful review of the DNA Fingerprinting initiative for us.
He explains how DNA fingerprinting can work, using marker pairs of DNA sequences, and gives some examples. It’s complicated – you will need to concentrate! And he goes on to discuss what this can (or cannot) tell us about each variety’s parentage.
The full text – as a pdf – can be read on-screen on our news pages here or downloaded via this link
December 2019 – January 2021 Updates (previous ones now deleted): We now have, as a result of the DNA work so far, revised listings of Apple and Pear varieties. The details are complicated and difficult to summarise but these two documents give a summary:
– Apples– DNA commentary to help interpret the book “Native Apples of Gloucestershire” (January 2021 update)
– Pears – DNA commentary to to help interpret the book “Pears of Gloucestershire and Perry Pears of the Three Counties” (December 2019 Update)
Background information on the DNA research: There is a lot of information available on FruitID’s website. Click on the Help icon on those pages to get up-to-date material from recent DNA meetings and initiatives
Traditional Research
Members of GOT and Hartpury Heritage Trust have undertaken a huge amount of research on local fruit varieties, particularly apples and perry pears, over many years.
We will be providing new links to summaries of this work and where you can find out more soon.
Some of the older research will be made available via our Members’ Pages soon (that part of the site is being constructed in January 2018).
GOT’s publications about Gloucestershire Apples, Pears and Plums
The most accessible result of this work is in our Apple, Pear and Plum books, all by Charles Martell. These are available from the bookshop page of our main website.
Join to read more!
We are setting up a Members’ Page soon with additional information on research and varieties.