Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
Lost Apple Project collects varieties thought extinct
One of the found varieties is the Almota apple.
CHATTAROY - The Lost Apple Project announced seven apple varieties believed lost or extinct were found in old orchards in Washington, Idaho and Oregon.
David Benscoter and the Temperate Orchard Conservancy (TOC) identified the apples collected in the fall of 2020 in the Palouse area.
The two projects in cooperation have now found 29 apple varieties thought previously to be extinct.
The varieties found were Almota, Eper, Iowa Flat, and Ivan hoe.
When a lost apple is identified, two apple trees are grafted and planted at the TOC in order to preserve the line. Grafting wood and trees are later made available to the public.
The Lost Apple Project (LAP) has more than 20 members looking for homestead-era apple trees, spending more than 1,000 hours in the pursuit of the lost varieties in 2020.
The LAP was begun by Benscoter, of Chattaroy, a retired FBI and U.S. Treasury agent, who came to looking into lost apples on the Palouse after researching George Ruedy. He was a frontier nurseryman who developed the "Palouse" apple, which was grown and sold nationally in the 1880s.
It is now considered extinct.
In Benscoter's research, he previously noted 11 apples that were growing on Steptoe Butte in the early 1900s that are now considered extinct.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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