300 Southland Apples Are About to Find Out Who They Are

For 15 years, Robyn Guyton has been naming old Southland apples the slow way, matching them against books and whatever she could find online. She has pinned down more than 90 varieties. Because some trees turned out to be double-ups, those 90-odd names now cover nearly 300 trees. More than 100 varieties still have no match, and there are at least 200 more she hasn't had time to get to.

Now there's a faster way. The Open Orchard Project is crowdfunding to DNA test 300 of its unidentified trees, and pledges close on 20 November.

Where the trees came from

We wrote about Robert and Robyn Guyton in August of Riverton. Over the last 20 years the project team has visited more than a hundred 19th century orchard remnants around Southland, cutting scions (the shoots used for grafting) and growing the old varieties again on new roots. The project now counts about 900 heritage trees, planted back in the communities they came from across 15 Community Heritage Orchard Parks.

Those numbers have moved since August. Our earlier post used an older Open Orchard Project estimate of about 790 trees, and Farmers Weekly's count of fourteen community orchards. The campaign page is the most recent figure we have.

Why a name matters

Every named apple variety is a clone of one original seed-grown tree, the project explains, usually from somewhere in the Northern Hemisphere and sometimes centuries old. Once Robyn finds a match, the name arrives with the variety's history attached. That's what 15 years of reading has been chasing, one tree at a time.

The DNA shortcut

There is now an extensive international apple DNA database, and the project has been offered a one-off chance to test 300 trees at cost price this spring, with support from a University of Otago researcher. It says it has applied to various funders for DNA testing before but never matched their criteria. That has been a long wait. In a 2019 video for the local series My Southland Story, Robyn was already talking about a DNA testing site and saying the project had applied for funds to test the collection. Seven years on, it went to PledgeMe.

The team expects more than 100 instant matches. Trees that don't match may still be placed on the international apple family tree, which narrows Robyn's search. Some may turn out to be unique to Southland, with no match anywhere, and those get named. The results will be shared with apple growers here and overseas.

If DNA testing heritage apples sounds familiar, it's because our August post covered an Otago PhD student who has been DNA fingerprinting the Coastal Otago heritage collection since 2023, because label names don't always match the genetics. Whether that's the same research effort, the campaign page doesn't say.

Where the money stands

The minimum target was $5,000, and as of 10 November, 49 people had pledged $5,441. The full ask is $10,000, which covers all 300 tests. A project update on 3 November said 170 trees could now be tested, with 130 still to go.

Anything raised beyond the testing goes into etched wooden signs naming the settler families beside their trees (only two parks have them so far) and permanent labels giving each tree its variety name and known date of origin. The team is gathering the settler families' stories to go with them, and the longer dream is a self-guided heritage orchard trail around Southland.

One of the rewards is called "Name An Apple Variety!" It's cheaper than naming a star, and you can eat this one.

Results are likely back in late May. These apples have been waiting since the 1800s. Another six months won't hurt.

Before you go

If this was useful, sign up free to get new posts by email, or leave a one-off tip to help keep this independent.