Api Etoile
{{Short description|Apple cultivar}}
{{Infobox cultivar
| image=Api étoilée - OPL Peillac Les Fougerêts.jpg
| image_caption=Top view of an immature fruit showing yellow coloration and the beginning of a distinct pentagonal shape.
| genus=Malus
| origin=1600s in Switzerland{{cite book|first1=Kent|last1=Whealy|first2=Joanne|last2=Thuente|title=Fruit, Berry, and Nut Inventory|date=2001|publisher=Seed Savers Exchange|isbn=1882424573|edition=3|page=53}}{{cite book|first=Rowan|last=Jacobsen|title=Apples of Uncommon Character: Heirlooms, Modern Classics, and Little-Known Wonders}} or France{{cite web|url=https://www.atlasobscura.com/foods/api-etoile-apple|title=Api Etoile Apple|website=Atlas Obscura|access-date=December 30, 2020|author=Anne Ewbank}}{{cite web|title=Around the World in Rare and Beautiful Apples|author=Anne Ewbank|url=https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/unusual-apples|date=January 6, 2020|access-date=December 30, 2020|website=Atlas Obscura}}
}}
The Api Etoile, also known as Star Apple,{{cite book|first=John|last=Scott|title=Scott's Orchardist: Or Catalogue of Fruits Cultivated at Merriott, Somerset|page=122|date=1873|publisher=H.M. Pollett, horticultural steam printer}} {{lang|fr|Pomme Etoilée|italic=no}}, or Star Lady Apple,{{cite book|first=Andrew|last=Downing|title=The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America|edition=14|date=1876|publisher=New York, J. Wiley & sons |url=https://archive.org/details/fruitsfruittrees00downrich|ol=7115805M}} is an apple cultivar notable for its five prominent knobs giving it the appearance of a star. It falls into the Api family of apple cultivars.
The Api Etoile is a rare cultivar. It is cultivated at a few specialty orchards.
Characteristics
The signature characteristic of the Api Etoile is its shape. The five ovaries of the apple form distinct knobs giving the apple the appearance of a rounded star. The apple has light green and pink skin. Its thick and waxy skin protects the flesh from moisture making it keep longer than other apples.
The tree possesses long and slender branches.{{cite book|first=André|last=Leroy|title=Dictionnaire de pomologie, contenant l'histoire, la description, la figure des fruits anciens et des fruits modernes les plus généralement connus et cultivés|language=fr|volume=3|page=70|url=https://archive.org/details/dictionnairedepo001lero|ol=24162740M|date=1867}}{{cite book|first=Jean|last=Bauhin|title=Historia plantarum universalis|volume=1|trans-title=Universal History of Plants|language=la|page=10|date=1650|publisher=Ebroduni|url=https://archive.org/details/gri_33125014444372/page/n25/mode/2up|ol= 22238516M}}
History
The Api Etoile was first described in the 17th century by the Swiss botanist J. Bauhin in {{lang|la|Historia plantarum universalis}} under the name {{lang|la|Pomum Pentagonum}} ({{Translation|pentagonal apple}}).
After Bauhin's death in 1613 the fruit would be cultivated in Italy and in the early 18th century it was cultivated by the Carthusians of Paris.
References
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{{Apples|state=collapsed}}
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