Tuffelrud

Research card canon

Pink Fir Apple

Also Rosa Tannenzapfen

From
France
When
about 1850 (unknown breeder in France); imported to Britain 1850
Bred or kept by
Unknown breeder in France
Parents
Darbre
How sure
origin partly
Shape
very long, knobbly, finger-like, often with side lobes
Proportion
3.2 times as long as wide, measured from photos
Size
unknown
Bend
slight
Knobs
strong
Skin
pink, over a buff ground, smooth
Flesh
light yellow to cream
Eyes
deep, red
Dormancy
long
Flesh type
waxy
Health
Susceptible to both potato cyst nematodes (AHDB). Late maincrop. Hard to peel because of the knobs; usually boiled in the skin.
The name
'Fir apple' is a fir cone, which the knobbly tuber resembles; the German name Rosa Tannenzapfen means 'pink fir cone'. Reading from the two names; no source states the naming.

The colour swatches are the flat colours the drawings use, read from photos and lifted to even daylight; the card says how.

What it looks like. The longest and knobbliest body in this set: tubers about three times as long as wide (2.8, 2.9 and 3.6 on three photographed tubers), with deep eyes, side lobes like small fingers, and often a gentle bend. Pink skin over a buff ground; firm, light yellow, waxy flesh.

History. Raised in France by an unknown breeder around 1850, from a variety recorded as Darbre, and imported to Britain in 1850. One of the oldest varieties still sold to British gardeners. In 1996 it was crossed with Désirée to make the newer salad potato Anya.

Body facts that carry story. Impossible to peel neatly; usually cooked in its skin. Long dormancy: it keeps. Waxy, so it holds its shape when cooked, the opposite of the floury Norwegians.

In the cellar

Where sources disagree

flesh colour

Wikipedia and AHDB summary: creamy

AHDB characters and ECPD: light yellow

How we settled it: Light yellow to cream. The cut tuber in the Rosa Tannenzapfen photo samples #D6BB5B under flash; card #E3C860.

skin colour

AHDB and ECPD: skin class red

Wikipedia and AHDB summary: pink

How we settled it: Pink; 'red' is the descriptor class. Photos sample #A57F75 and #937066 (flash, slightly dim) and #FAC587 in low warm sun; card #C98F80, a dusty pink a step browner than Kerr's Pink.

plant.flower colour

AHDB: white flowers

Wikipedia: blue-violet, mauve, light pastel purple

How we settled it: Unresolved; not needed for the tuber. Leave to the plant if it is ever drawn.

Still unknown

  • Who bred it, where in France, and what Darbre is.
  • Size in cm: no scale in the photos.
  • No CC0 or public domain photo: outline must come from our own tubers.

Sources

  • potatoes.agricrops.org: AHDB/SASA: late maincrop salad variety first marketed in 1850; long, knobbly, pink-skinned tubers, creamy, firm, waxy flesh; bred from Darbre; shape very long; skin class red; flesh light yellow; eyes deep; white flowers; no berries; PCN susceptible
  • europotato.org: ECPD: bred from Darbre; unknown breeder in France about 1850; skin red; eye colour red; flesh light yellow; very long; eyes deep; dormancy long to very long
  • en.wikipedia.org: imported to the UK from France in 1850; long knobbly shape difficult to peel; pink skin; creamy waxy flesh; crossed with Désirée in 1996 to make Anya; plant about 1.2 m

Reference photos

Used to read proportion and colour, credited here, and never traced or copied into the drawings.