Glossary · Fruit
Heritage variety
Also written heirloom variety. Each is a name for the same thing, which is why none of them has an entry of its own.
Definition
An old cultivar surviving outside mainstream commercial propagation, kept going by collections, enthusiasts and old orchards. The term implies age and rarity, not quality.
- Subject
- Fruit
- Also written
- heirloom variety
In more detail
Rediscovery work in the Welsh borders and the west of England has restored a number of cider and perry cultivars from single surviving trees. Some proved genuinely useful; others are preserved because losing them would remove evidence, not because they make better cider.
Related terms
Terms that belong to the same part of the subject, or that this one is routinely confused with.
Fruit
Cultivar
A named clone propagated by grafting, so that every tree of it is genetically identical to the original seedling. "Variety" is used interchangeably in trade, though it has a stricter botanical meaning.
Perry
Perry pear conservation
The organised work of finding, identifying, propagating and replanting surviving perry pear cultivars, most of which exist as a handful of ageing trees.
Orchard
Traditional orchard
An orchard of widely spaced standard or half-standard trees on vigorous rootstocks, with a permanent grassland floor that is grazed or mown. In the United Kingdom it is a recognised priority habitat.
Where to go next
- Cider glossary — The whole vocabulary, by subject and A–Z.
- Comparisons — Terms that are only really clear when set against the thing they are not.
- Search — Finds terms by their aliases and by their spellings in other languages.
Sources
What this page rests on. Where a source is marked as registered rather than read, CiderHQ is recording that the body is authoritative on the subject without claiming to have worked through the document itself. See our evidence policy for what each state means.
Marcher Apple Network · specialist organisation · retrieved 2026-08-24
Has rediscovered and DNA-fingerprinted a number of lost Welsh border cultivars. Cited for identity work on cultivars the national collections do not hold.
Gloucestershire Orchard Trust · specialist organisation · retrieved 2026-08-24
WPCS · specialist organisation · retrieved 2026-08-24
Documents Welsh cider and perry traditions and has done substantial work identifying and conserving Welsh perry pear cultivars that were close to being lost.