We offer a fruit identification service at the Apple Days we attend each autumn and are also happy to see unidentified fruits at any other time of year either by post or by you bringing samples to us at our office in west Norfolk.
We are particularly keen to see fruits from older trees as these are more likely to be ‘heritage’ varieties.
This is a free service, but donations to support our work are always welcome.
Please bring at least 3 fruit samples with their stalks intact, selected from different parts of the tree to show variability. Avoid picking the biggest fruits as these might be what are known as ‘king fruits’ (these have a smaller and thicker stalk than other fruits, often with a fleshy bump in their stalk cavity). Bring a few leaves along too, as these can be helpful.
Post at least 3 samples to us when they are ripe and ready to pick. Please contact us before doing this so we know to expect them. As well as supplying your contact details, please enclose background information about your fruit tree/s (e.g. where the tree is growing, its likely age, what name you know it by if any, how you use its fruit, etc.) and, if you can send us some photos of the tree/s by email that is always helpful.
You can email photos of any unidentified fruits to us instead of posting them to us, but it’s harder for us to identify them conclusively this way. Photos need to show the top, bottom and side the fruit and it’s helpful if you include a £1 coin in the image to give us an idea of their size, as shown in the photo here.
Alternatively, contact us to make an appointment to bring your unidentified fruit samples along to our headquarters.
