“What’s in a name? The importance of identity in heirloom apple tree preservation” is a brief report detailing the latest conversations around DNA analysis of fruit trees and how DNA will tie into the preservation of heritage fruit. It’s a great read for fruit explorers, apple lovers and orchardists alike.
Some familiar names you might recognize as authors of the report are the Maine Heritage Orchard’s manager Laura Sieger, founder John Bunker and intern Lydia Pendergast. As part of the Maine Heritage Orchard’s ongoing work with Washington State University for DNA testing, the team has begun to work with fruit historians, scientists and preservation orchards from across the country as part of the Historic Fruit Tree Working Group of North America.
Over the past year the working group has been meeting digitally to share information and knowledge surrounding the identification of fruit varieties and work towards a standardized system for fruit identification, incorporating DNA analysis.
Check out the other authors and organizations below:
- Amy Dunbar Wallis, The Boulder Apple Tree Project and University of Colorado Boulder.
- Gayle Volk, USDA-Agricultural Research Service National Laboratory for Genetic Resources Preservation.
- Cameron Peace and Alexandra Johnson, Washington State University and MyFruitTree.
- Addie Schuenemeyer, Montezuma Orchard Restoration Project.
- Todd Little-Siebold, College of the Atlantic.
- David Castro, Richard Uhlmann and David Benscoter, Lost Apple Project.
