Adam's Apples

There's always more to know.  Consider this the second installment in the ongoing investigation of what to call the set of bumps that sometimes grace the ridge around the calyx end of the apple. Last month I weighed in with crown, noting that an apple usually begins its life with its calyx pointing up.

Curation is key. Gene sequencing is helping the National Fruit Collection (UK) to prune its orchard and improve its classifications. I reviewed the NFC's searchable apple database in 2008.

Today is the day I rate apples I've sampled (or resampled or reconsidered) from the previous year. My ratings are qualitative, from one to three stars . These judgments reflect my tastes primarily, though sometimes other considerations come into play. As for the year itself: no stars at all.

This fun video (4 minutes) was created in 2014 for a biology class at Stanford. It speaks for itself. Bonus points if you can name the fruit (not an apple, really, and what's with that?) that inspired the soundtrack.

BOTTOMS UP  ¶  I've called them "chins" and have also heard "feet." The question, however, is about the true name of the bumps on the calyx end of the apple.  ¶  The answer is crown.

The genetic heritage of just a handful of apples dominates commercial production, according to an analysis in the science journal Horticultural Research this month. The top 8 cultivars (really, top 3) dominate the orchard genome The authors ( Migicovsky et al. ) suggest that the lopsided use of these "elite cultivars" by apple breeders "leaves the apple industry vulnerable to evolving pests and pathogens and a changing climate." The study applies recent advances in gene-sequencing technology to the USDA apple germplasm collection . These new methods make feasible an analysis of this scope.

I write about apples, not current events. But we are all affected and afflicted by this terrible moment in human history. To all of us, take care.  And wassail.