Posted on 06/14/2026 10:24:04 AM PDT by Red Badger
A one-in-a-million apple that's half red and half yellow has become a local celebrity at the Sunshine Corner Market in Christchurch, New Zealand, after it came in a random delivery last month.
The store's owner, Heather, told the New Zealand Herald,
We've been in the game a long time, never seen one like it.
Sunshine Corner Market/Facebook
And no, that's not AI, that's actually a perfectly halved red and yellow apple known as a chimera apple. Chimera apples are caused by rare gene mutations that cause one apple to form from two different genetic backgrounds, resulting in a really cool half-and-half variety.
It's also not genetically engineered, but a naturally occurring mutation, even though it does look pretty unnatural.
The store owner said that the apple has created quite a stir in their community, with people stopping by just to catch a glimpse of the rare fruit. Some people have even asked to rub the apple for luck.
She went on to tell the New Zealand Herald,
People have gone home, told their other half, and they haven't believed them, so they've come back with them. Lots of people are really excited and have taken photos of it -- it's just captured people's imagination.
The apple is approaching the end of its shelf life, and the store hasn't yet decided if they want to preserve the fruit to keep it on display or cut it open to look inside.
I vote to cut it up and sell it by the slice.
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Chimera Apple Ping!..............
I bet the seeds are valuable.
What would King Solomon do?
I think our intergalactic visitors have been doing more than crop circles and cow mutilations. Only sensible explanation.
It is cool...
Good thing not found in USA...it would be put on a preservation list along with 100,000 acres surrounding the trees.
They did not look like that, but a gas station I refueled my car at the other day had these mini packages of “New Zealand apples” on their fridge shelves! (And a high quality tea making station I may add.)
I would eat it when no one was looking.
New Zealand must be an exciting place.
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You can only go so many times on LOTR tours!
If you’re more interested in sheep than people...
Natures AI at work?.
Was the apple tree a normally red or normally yellow apple?...............
Both or it wouldn’t have happened?.
A few years ago seen an article where someone grafted a tomato plant with a hot pepper plant it produced but nobody opted for it.
Fun with plant huh.
It’s biracial. Viva Diversity, Equity, Inclusion!
Frank Gorshin ping!
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