Styre

The Styre or Stire, also known as the Forest Styre, was an old English variety of cider apple which was formerly common in the Forest of Dean. It is currently thought to be extinct, but may still survive in old orchards or gardens.

History

The Styre originated in the Forest of Dean, where it grew well on the local thin limestone soils: in common with a handful of other old apple varieties, it could be simply propagated without grafting, by striking root from branches pulled from the tree's crown. Although the variety's age is unknown, it was clearly very old, its name having a possible Anglo-Saxon root. The Styre had a reputation for producing a valuable, exceptionally flavoursome and unusually strong cider. John Philips, in his 1708 poem Cyder, refers to it as "Stirom, firmest fruit", and describes it as making a long-lasting, smooth, yet deceptively strong drink.

The pioneer American pomologist and politician William Coxe, Jr. grew a number of specimens of the Styre in his orchard in Burlington, New Jersey, and commented in 1817 that the variety was even then "supposed to have passed the zenith of its perfection, and to be rapidly declining [in Herefordshire]", though his own trees attracted attention for their luxuriant growth. A number of other authors in this period commented that the Styre's productiveness and quality was in decline. It has been retrospectively suggested that this was because the Styre was a triploid apple, and in later years lacked suitable cross-pollinators, meaning that it fruited poorly. Older apple varieties may also suffer from a build-up of viruses in their tissues over time.