via @mike_elgan

Published: 7:00AM BST 25 Sep 2009

Ken Morrish, 72, of Colaton Raleigh, Devon, did a double take when he grew a Golden Delicious apple split down the middle – one half was green and the other red

Photo: ARCHANT

The fruit’s striking colouring is thought to be caused by a random genetic mutation at odds of more than a million to one.

The apple has caused such a stir in the village of Colaton Raleigh, Devon, that Mr Morrish is inundated with neighbours queuing up to take pictures of it.

Mr Morrish, 72, who has been harvesting the apples from trees in his garden for 45 years, said: “It’s truly amazing.

“It looks as if a green apple and a red apple has been cut in half and stuck together.”

He said that he was out picking a few apples for his sister-in-law when he spotted the fruit hanging from a bough.

Mr Morrish, a retired painter and decorator, added: “I couldn’t believe my eyes. The red and green split through the stem is totally perfect – as if I’ve painted it.

“It’s a genuine one-off and none of us have ever seen an apple like it before.”

Experts believe that the odds of finding an apple with such a perfect line between the green and the red are more than a million to one.

In such cases, the red side usually tastes sweeter than the green side – because it has seen more sunshine during its growth.

John Breach, chairman of the British Independent Fruit Growers Association, told the Daily Mail: “I’ve never seen this happen before to a golden delicious. It is extremely rare. It is an extreme mutation.

“There has been the occasional case of this type reported. If there was a whole branch of apples with the same colouring then fruit experts would get even more excited.”

Jim Arbury, fruit superintendent at RHS Garden Wisley in Surrey, said it was probably the “result of a random genetic mutation”.

“This is known as a chimera where one of the first two cells has developed differently giving rise to one half of the apple being different,” he said.

“It is unlikely to be a stable mutation but it is worth checking next year to see if it recurs. There are instances of some striped apples and pears where the mutation remains stable including one striped pear in the collection at Wisley called Pysanka.”

via @tfsalomon

Dame Vivienne Westwood supports the PRP at London Fashion Week

21st September: Fashion industry icon and enthusiastic environmentalist Dame Vivienne Westwood launched her 2010 Red Label Spring/Summer collection at London Fashion Week on Sunday, September 20th with a special kind of green show…

In support of The Prince’s Rainforests Project (PRP), Vivienne dedicated her show and models to the humble frog, the symbol of rainforests and ambassador for the PRP. Vivienne has also designed a frog that has been created and decorated by her studio. The fibreglass frog model features a design of hand prints to demonstrate that we all have a role to play to helping tackle climate change so we all need to roll our sleeves up and get our hands dirty! This frog model, which is 70cm tall, appeared in her Red Label catwalk show on Sunday, with her models, including Pixie Geldof and Lisa from Big Brother, also wearing frog accessories incorporated in her designs.

Vivienne is supporting the PRP by asking everyone to give their name, to show the world leaders gathering in Copenhagen for crucial climate change talks this December that they must take action and that there is a public will for them to do so.

Watch Dame Vivienne’s video with our frog and see what she has to say about rainforests and climate change in her Q&A

Vivienne Westwood’s frog sculpture front and centre at her Red Label show	Vivienne Westwood walking the runway with the PRP frog following a brilliant show
Pixie Geldof on the catwalk with the PRP frog	Big Brother’s Lisa Wallace on the catwalk with the PRP frog. Her dress was inspired by the Vivienne Westwood’s design for the giant frog sculpture.
Daisy Lowe with the PRP frog	Alexa Chung signing up to support the PRP
George Lamb recording his frog message	Peaches Geldof interviewing Vivienne Westwood about the PRP for GMTV