Cox's Orange Pippin facts for kids

Quick facts for kids 'Cox's Orange Pippin'
Genus	Malus
Species	Malus domestica
Hybrid parentage	'Margil'
Cultivar	'Cox's Orange Pippin'
Origin	United Kingdom, 1830

The Cox's Orange Pippin is a very popular type of apple. In Britain, people often just call it Cox. This special apple was first grown in 1825 in Colnbrook, England. It was created by Richard Cox, who used to be a brewer and was also a garden expert.

We don't know for sure which apples were its exact parents. However, DNA tests suggest that an apple called Margil might be one of its parents. The Cox apple started being sold in the 1850s and was grown on farms from the 1860s. It became very popular in places like the Vale of Evesham and Kent in England.

What it Looks Like and How it's Used

A Cox apple seen from the stem end

The 'Cox's Orange Pippin' apple is loved for its great taste and pretty look. These apples are usually medium-sized. They have an orange-red color that gets deeper, turning bright red with speckles of deep red over a yellow background.

The inside of the apple is very fragrant. It's yellow-white, fine-grained, crunchy, and very juicy. The Cox apple tastes a bit tart and lively, with hints of cherry and anise. As it gets older, its flavor becomes softer and milder. When ripe apples are shaken, you can hear the seeds rattle inside. This happens because they are held loosely within the apple's flesh.

Sometimes, Cox's Orange Pippin apples are mixed with other apple types to make cider.

How Cox Apples are Grown

An illustration of the Cox apple

In the UK, the 'Cox's Orange Pippin' is the most common dessert apple grown. It covers over 50% of the land used for dessert apples. The apple tree grows at a moderate speed and produces fruit every year.

However, it can be tricky to grow in many places. It can easily get diseases like scab, mildew, and canker. Because of this, it's not often grown on farms in North America. Cox's Orange Pippin is also grown in Belgium and the Netherlands. These countries have a climate that is similar to Great Britain's.

Over the years, new types of Cox's Orange Pippin have appeared naturally. These are called "sports" and they are grown separately. They still keep "Cox" in their names, like Cherry Cox, Crimson Cox, King Cox, and Queen Cox.

Apple growers have also crossed the Cox apple with other varieties. They do this to make the trees stronger, more resistant to diseases, and to produce more fruit. They always try to keep the special flavor of the Cox apple.

New Apple Types from Cox

Many new apple varieties have been created by crossing the Cox's Orange Pippin with other apples. Here are some of them:

• Acme (Cox's Orange Pippin × unknown)
• Alkmene (Cox's Orange Pippin × Geheimrat Doktor Oldenburg)
• Allington Pippin (Cox's Orange Pippin × King of the Pippins)
• Anna Boelens (Cox's Orange Pippin × Freiherr von Berlepsch)
• Apollo (Cox's Orange Pippin × Geheimrat Doktor Oldenburg)
• Arthur W. Barnes (Gascoyne's Scarlet × Cox's Orange Pippin)
• Barnack Orange (Cox's Orange Pippin × Barnack Beauty)
• Barry (McIntosh × Cox's Orange Pippin)
• Bountiful (Cox's Orange Pippin × Lane's Prince Albert)
• Carswell's Honeydew (Cox's Orange Pippin × unknown)
• Carswell's Orange (Cox's Orange Pippin × unknown)
• Charles Ross' (Cox's Orange Pippin × Peasgood's Nonsuch)
• Clivia (Geheimrat Doktor Oldenburg × Cox's Orange Pippin)
• Clopton Red (Cox's Orange Pippin × unknown)
• Cobra (Cox's Orange Pippin' × Bramley's Seedling)
• Downton Pippin (Cox's Orange Pippin × Golden Pippin)
• Dukat (Golden Delicious × Cox's Orange Pippin) or (Geheimrat Doktor Oldenburg × Cox's Orange Pippin)
• Dunning (Cox's Orange Pippin × McIntosh)
• Eden (John Standish × Cox's Orange Pippin)
• Edith Hopwood (Cox's Orange Pippin × unknown)
• Ellison's Orange (Cox's Orange Pippin × Cellini)
• Elstar (Golden Delicious × Cox's Orange Pippin)
• Fiesta (Cox's Orange Pippin × Idared)
• Francis (Cox's Orange Pippin × unknown)
• Freyburg (Cox's Orange Pippin × Golden Delicious)
• Gloucester Cross (Cox's Orange Pippin × unknown)
• Golden Nugget (Golden Russet × Cox's Orange Pippin)
• Hereford Cross (Cox's Orange Pippin × unknown)
• Herefordshire Russet (Cox's Orange Pippin × Idared)
• High View Pippin (Sturmer Pippin × Cox's Orange Pippin)
• Holstein (Cox's Orange Pippin × unknown)
• Ingrid Marie (Cox's Orange Pippin × Guldborg)
• James Grieve apple (Cox's Orange Pippin × Potts' Seedling)
• Jupiter (Cox's Orange Pippin × Starking Delicious)
• Karmijn de Sonneville (Cox's Orange Pippin × Jonathan)
• Kent (Cox's Orange Pippin × Jonathan)
• Kidd's Orange Red (Cox's Orange Pippin × Red Delicious)
• King George V (Cox's Orange Pippin × unknown)
• Langley Pippin (Cox's Orange Pippin × Gladstone)
• Laxton's Advance (Cox's Orange Pippin × Gladstone)
• Laxton's Epicure (Wealthy × Cox's Orange Pippin)
• Laxton's Exquisite (Cellini × Cox's Orange Pippin)
• Laxton's Fortune (Cox's Orange Pippin × Wealthy)
• Laxton's Pearmain (Cox's Orange Pippin × Wyken Pippin)
• Laxton's Superb (Cellini × Cox's Orange Pippin)
• Laxton's Triumph (King of the Pippins × Cox's Orange Pippin)
• Lucullus (Jonathan x Cox Orange Pippin)
• Lynn's Pippin (Cox's Orange Pippin × Ellison's Orange)
• Meridien (Cox's Orange Pippin × Falstaff)
• Merton Beauty (Ellison's Orange × Cox's Orange Pippin)
• Merton Charm (McIntosh × Cox's Orange Pippin)
• Merton Russet (Sturmer Pippin × Cox's Orange Pippin)
• Merton Worcester (Cox's Orange Pippin × Worcester Pearmain)
• Millicent Barnes (Gascoyne's Scarlet × Cox's Orange Pippin)
• Nuvar Cheerful Gold (Cox's Orange Pippin × Golden Delicious)
• Nuvar Freckles (Golden Delicious × Cox's Orange Pippin)
• Orangenburg (Cox's Orange Pippin × Esopus Spitzenburg)
• Pixie (Cox's Orange Pippin × Sunset)
• Polly Prosser (Cox's Orange Pippin × Duke of Devonshire)
• Prince Charles (Lord Lambourne × Cox's Orange Pippin)
• Prins Bernhard (Jonathan × Cox's Orange Pippin)
• Red Windsor (Cox's Orange Pippin × Alkmene)
• Rival (Peasgood's Nonsuch × Cox's Orange Pippin)
• Rosy Blenheim (Blenheim Orange × Cox's Orange Pippin)
• Rubens (Cox's Orange Pippin × Unknown)
• Rubinette (Golden Delicious × Cox's Orange Pippin)
• Ruby (Thorrington) (Cox's Orange Pippin × unknown)
• Saint Cecilia (Cox's Orange Pippin × unknown)
• Saint Everard (Cox's Orange Pippin × Margil)
• Sunburn (Cox's Orange Pippin × unknown)
• Suntan (Cox's Orange Pippin × Court Pendu Plat)
• Sunset (Cox's Orange Pippin × unknown)
• Sweetie Darling/East Malling A 3022 (Cox's Orange Pippin × Northern Spy)
• Tydeman's Late Orange (Laxton's Superb × Cox's Orange Pippin)
• Tydeman's October Pippin (Cox's Orange Pippin × Ellison's Orange)
• William Crump (Cox's Orange Pippin × Worcester Pearmain)
• Winter Gem (Cox's Orange Pippin × Grimes Golden)
• Winston/Winter King (Cox's Orange Pippin × Worcester Pearmain)

Sports (Natural Mutations)

A "sport" in botany is a natural change or mutation that happens in a plant. These changes can affect the fruit's color, size, or other features. Several sports of Cox's Orange Pippin have been found and grown:

• Queen Cox (This sport can pollinate itself, meaning it doesn't need another apple tree nearby to produce fruit.)
• Cherry Cox (This sport is redder than the original Cox's Orange Pippin and has a mild cherry candy flavor.)

See also

In Spanish: Cox's Orange Pippin para niños