Rare apple variety first planted by Jan van Riebeeck returns to Cape Town
· The South African
A rare apple variety first planted by Jan van Riebeeck has been replanted in Cape Town – one of only four known witte wijnappel trees in South Africa.
A tree of this apple varietal was planted at Jan van Riebeeck High School as part of the school’s centenary celebrations. The planting also marks 364 years since apples were first recorded at the Cape.
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The tree is notable for its rarity. It is only the fourth known witte wijnappel (white wine apple) tree currently growing in South Africa.
The cultivar has a direct link to Jan van Riebeeck. In his diary on 17 April 1662, Van Riebeeck recorded picking the first two Dutch apples grown at the Cape from a five-foot witte wijnappel tree.
Today, the fruit industry that grew from those early orchards has expanded significantly.
“Today, South Africa is home to approximately 45 million apple trees and produces 1.3 million tonnes of apples annually,” said Tru-Cape’s Jeanne Fourie during the ceremony.
Historic apple rediscovered in the Netherlands
The effort to reintroduce the witte wijnappel to South Africa involved years of research.
Tru-Cape’s Henk Griessel and colleague Buks Nel studied historical sources and archives from the Dutch East India Company.
Their search eventually traced the cultivar to two surviving trees in a private garden between the Rhine and Maas rivers in the Netherlands.
“Sadly, the area was heavily bombed during the Second World War, and it is a true miracle that the apple trees survived,” Fourie added.
Plant material was later imported under strict regulations and successfully established locally.
From one tree to a global industry
Before the latest planting, only three witte wijnappel trees existed in South Africa – at Tru-Cape’s heritage orchard in Grabouw, at Babylonstoren, and in Cape Town’s Company’s Gardens.
“Planting a fourth tree at a school that is celebrating its 100th birthday…is deeply symbolic,” Fourie concluded.
South Africa now exports apples to more than 100 countries, with the industry supporting more than 240 000 jobs.
The ceremony also included the planting of a rosa centifolia rose, believed to be among the first roses cultivated in South Africa.