The comprehensive resource for apples and orchards

Court Pendu Plat apple

Ancient French dessert variety, rich intense unique flavour

Court Pendu Plat photo tape
Court Pendu Plat is old apple variety from France, with a history dating back to the early 1600s and many earlier references. It was popular in Victorian times and still has a small following.

With such an ancient lineage it is perhaps no surprise that Court Pendu Plat is quite different from many other varieties. The most distinctive feature is the strange flattened appearance. The base is highly inverted and you can clearly see the flower stalk from which the apple formed. The colouring is light green flushed with orange and red.

The flesh is very dense, not soft but not crisp either. Cutting into it with a knife feels a bit like cutting into a hard cheddar cheese. There seems to be very little juice, and it is not really apple-flavoured at all. The flavour is fruity and strong when picked, and sweetens by Christmas. It is not actually very appealing when you first bite into it, yet is strangely "more-ish", with a flavour which is hard to define. It can also be used for cooking.

Although we have no proof, we think Court Pendu Plat could be somewhere in the ancestry of Cox's Orange Pippin. The size, flattened shape, colouration, and complex flavours of Cox are all there in Court Pendu Plat, albeit in a more primitive form. Cox's probable parent - Ribston Pippin - was apparently grown from a seedling brought to England from France in the early 1700s, a time when Court Pendu Plat was well-established on the Continent.
Last updated 30 Jul 2011.

Summary

  • Species: Malus domestica
  • Parentage: Unknown, extremely old
  • Origin: France
  • Introduced: 1613
  • Orange Pippin Cultivar ID: 101300

Identification

  • Fruit colour: Red / Orange flush
  • Bultitude apple group: 7. Flushed / striped, some russeting, sweet

Using

  • Good for eating fresh
  • Good for juice
  • Flavour quality: Very good
  • Flavour style: Pear drop
  • Ripening period: Late season
  • Use / keeping: 3 months or more

Growing

  • Cropping: Heavy
  • Flowering period: Very-Late season
  • Flowering group: 6
  • Fertility: Self-sterile
  • Triploid: No
  • Vigour: Weak growing
  • Gardening skill: Average
  • Fruit bearing: Spur-bearer
  • Attractive blossom
  • General disease resistance: Good

Climate

  • Suitable for temperate climates
  • Tolerates cold winters

Disease resistance

  • Scab  - Very resistant
  • Mildew  - Very resistant

Court Pendu Plat identification photos from official fruit collections


ARS GRIN

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ARS GRIN

UK National Fruit Collection

©Crown Copyright more >
UK National Fruit Collection

Court Pendu Plat identification photos from website visitors


Court Pendu Plat on a 10 year old espalier tree, M26 rootstock tape


Court Pendu Plat on a 10 year old espalier tree, M26 rootstock

Copyright: Jim Jackson, Wakefield, UK


Rate this variety for flavor

Current rating: out of 5. Total votes cast: 0
 

Visitor comments

(Use the form at the bottom to add your own comments about this variety)

13 Sep 2010 N. BuckCAMBRIDGESHIRE, United Kingdom
Although CPP is often quoted as being scab resistant, it is the fruit that has good resistance to scab, but the leaves are not resistant to scab. CPP also has "some resistance" to mildew and canker, but it is not immune. Late flowering can cause problems with pollination, but there are a handful of good-quality, organic-suitable, late-flowering varieties that are worth growing alongside CPP - such as Edward VII and Crawley Beauty. In my region, I find that MM106 rootstock often tends to bring varieties into flower slightly earlier (one pollination group earlier) than the other rootstocks, which could allow clever rootstock selection to slightly bring forward the flowering time of CPP. Additionally, if planting more than one tree, if the CPP is planted in the sunnier spot and the other tree in the shadier spot, you may also bring closer their *relative* flowering times by one pollination group as a result of the CPP warming up more quickly in the spring. The very-slow-growing nature of CPP leads me to suggest a somewhat stronger rootstock than you'd normally consider. In a collection of trees I'd suggest that CPP has a size larger rootstock (e.g. MM106 if planted with "average-vigour" M26 trees) to allow the CPP keep up with the growth rate of its companions.
16 Jun 2010 Dave LiezenWA, United States
This variety looks interesting: scab resistant; strong unusual flavor, long keeper, Heritage! Anyone in Canada or the States who have it care to say how it is performing for you? Late bloom can be a plus in Spokane. Last frost is often in early May, this year was 24th May 2010.
08 Jun 2009 Sally BailSOMERSET, United Kingdom
We've grown this variety for a number of years. Ours are much more russeted than the one in your picture, and reddish golden brown when ripe, certainly not pale green! They are small, and very flatttened, and the late flowering means that pollination is a problem in many seasons. However they are delicious when ripe, which is rarely before Christmas. They are sweet, spicy and aromatic. The flesh is slightly dry like many russets.
05 Feb 2009 Nick BurrowsNORTH YORKSHIRE, United Kingdom
Hazel, There are very few varieties that can truly be said to be pre 17th century. Derek at Bernewode Plants has done a great deal of research into the early varieties and he is your best bet to source them. Those that come immediately to mind are Nonpareil and White Joaneting as well as CPP. 17th Century apples are a little more identifiable. The best original source is John Worlidge, who wrote in the late 1600's, particularly his Vinetum Britanicum (1678, 2nd Ed). He specifically names Margaret (available from Brogdale), Devonshire Quarendon (Keepers Nursery, et al), Genet Moyle and Catshead - all of which can be sourced quite easily. The great Ribston Pippin was also planted in 1688 (Rogers of Pickering). Any or all would do very well in Bristol. It is also claimed that the greatest 17th Century apple, the Redstreak, has also been rediscovered (Brogdale, Matthews) although it remains to be seen if this can really be said to be the apple of our ancestors.
26 Dec 2008 Hazel HammondBRISTOL UK, United Kingdom
I want to buy a pre 17th c variety of apple if I can for my garden in Bristol... have you any advice on / pictures of the tree growing I can see.. where did you get yours ?? thanks hazel.
02 Nov 2008 Hannah BridgePLOX GREEN, SHROPSHIRE, United Kingdom
I have had an excellent crop of these apples this year, and have just started to pick them (02/11/08, after first frost). Mine are flatter and matter, like Jim's of Wakefield. The longer I have left them on the tree, the more yellow some have become - it has not been the sunniest Summer or Autumn. I was delighted to read that they are going to continue to improve in eating between now and the Spring as I found them rather hard on picking.
01 Oct 2008 Jim JacksonWAKEFIELD, United Kingdom
The photograph you have does not look much like the fruit I get from the tree I grow as Court Pendu Platt. My fruit are flatter, and the green base colour is more matt with deeper matt red colouring. CPP flowers very very late, often when no other apples are flowering, so pollination can be a problem.
08 Feb 2008 Tim DeeBRISTOL, United Kingdom
Peter Wellbery Smith grows this just south of the Wash near King's Lynn. He says March is the best month for eating. The ones i have in front of me from him (8/02/08) are already good. Discreet but deep in flavour, spiced and hard and utterly toothsome.

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Fruit tree register

Do you have a tree of this variety in your garden or orchard? If so please register the details here and contribute to our international register of fruit trees.

The following Court Pendu Plat trees have been registered - click the name to view more details of each tree.

You can also view these trees on a map.

United States

United Kingdom

Canada

Australia



Latest Spring blossom records for this variety

2009 season

  • 11th May  2009  - tree owned by N. in CAMBRIDGE, United Kingdom
  • 11th May  2009  - tree owned by N. in CAMBRIDGE, United Kingdom

Record your blossom dates in our Fruit Tree Register - more >>.

Latest harvest records for this variety

2009 season

  • October  2009  - tree owned by N. in CAMBRIDGE, United Kingdom
  • October  2009  - tree owned by N. in CAMBRIDGE, United Kingdom

Mature heights for Court Pendu Plat trees

This table shows the likely mature height for a Court Pendu Plat tree taking into account the vigor of the variety, the rootstock, and soil conditions.

Rootstock Soil quality
Poor Below average Average Above average Very good
P22 1.8 ft
0.5 m		 2.2 ft
0.7 m		 2.6 ft
0.8 m		 3.1 ft
0.9 m		 3.5 ft
1.1 m
M27 2.0 ft
0.6 m		 2.5 ft
0.8 m		 3.0 ft
0.9 m		 3.5 ft
1.1 m		 4.0 ft
1.2 m
M9 3.0 ft
0.9 m		 3.8 ft
1.2 m		 4.5 ft
1.4 m		 5.3 ft
1.6 m		 6.0 ft
1.8 m
Bud.9 3.0 ft
0.9 m		 3.8 ft
1.2 m		 4.5 ft
1.4 m		 5.3 ft
1.6 m		 6.0 ft
1.8 m
Geneva 16 3.0 ft
0.9 m		 3.8 ft
1.2 m		 4.5 ft
1.4 m		 5.3 ft
1.6 m		 6.0 ft
1.8 m
Geneva 11 3.5 ft
1.1 m		 4.4 ft
1.3 m		 5.3 ft
1.6 m		 6.1 ft
1.9 m		 7.0 ft
2.1 m
M26 3.8 ft
1.2 m		 4.7 ft
1.4 m		 5.6 ft
1.7 m		 6.6 ft
2.0 m		 7.5 ft
2.3 m
Geneva 30 4.0 ft
1.2 m		 5.0 ft
1.5 m		 6.0 ft
1.8 m		 7.0 ft
2.1 m		 8.0 ft
2.5 m
MM102 4.0 ft
1.2 m		 5.0 ft
1.5 m		 6.0 ft
1.8 m		 7.0 ft
2.1 m		 8.0 ft
2.5 m
M7 4.5 ft
1.4 m		 5.6 ft
1.7 m		 6.8 ft
2.1 m		 7.9 ft
2.4 m		 9.0 ft
2.8 m
M116 4.5 ft
1.4 m		 5.6 ft
1.7 m		 6.8 ft
2.1 m		 7.9 ft
2.4 m		 9.0 ft
2.8 m
MM106 5.0 ft
1.5 m		 6.3 ft
1.9 m		 7.5 ft
2.3 m		 8.8 ft
2.7 m		 10.0 ft
3.1 m
MM111 6.0 ft
1.8 m		 7.5 ft
2.3 m		 9.0 ft
2.8 m		 10.5 ft
3.2 m		 12.0 ft
3.7 m
Bud.118 6.5 ft
2.0 m		 8.1 ft
2.5 m		 9.8 ft
3.0 m		 11.4 ft
3.5 m		 13.0 ft
4.0 m
M25 7.5 ft
2.3 m		 9.4 ft
2.9 m		 11.3 ft
3.5 m		 13.1 ft
4.0 m		 15.0 ft
4.6 m

From an idea by N. Buck - more details.

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