Appeal for information gets to the core of apple mystery

two in one: The unusual red and yellow apple, which featured in the paper this week, is a classic case of chimera —a piece of fruit reverting to its original parentage. In this case it is a cross a blend of a red apple called Lady William and a Golden Delicious. Picture by Rebecca Grunwell

Questions about an unusual red and yellow apple found recently in the fruit bin at a local food outlet have been answered.

Photos of the fruit featured in The Gisborne Herald's Focus on the Land section on Wednesday.

“The picture of the Cripps Pink apple is showing a classic case of a chimera,” an expert said in an email.

“This is the fruit reverting to its original parentage,” she said.

“This occurs a lot and is usually graded out in the packhouse.

“In most cases it is not that obvious, as a red apple will be bred with another red apple and the demarcation may be between a block red and a striped red,” she said.

“However this Cripps Pink was a cross between an apple called Lady William (red) and a Golden Delicious (yellow), hence the obvious stripe.

“Cripps Pink was bred in Australia. Here it is grown as Pink Lady, and there is currently very little of this variety grown in Gisborne, mainly as a pollinator.”