Illinois’ official state fruit is the GoldRush apple – a long-keeping, sweet and tart variety with a rich, spicy flavor. This greenish-yellow apple, which occasionally gains a golden bronze to red blush at harvest, was developed by the disease-resistant apple breeding program of the University of Illinois, Purdue University and Rutgers University in New Jersey.

Scroll through the slideshow below to learn a few more fun facts about apples:

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Apples in baskets
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  • A peck of apples weighs 10.5 pounds. A bushel of apples weighs about 42 pounds and will yield 20 to 24 quarts of applesauce. It takes about 36 apples to create one gallon of apple cider.
  • More than 2,500 varieties of apples are grown in the United States, but only the crabapple is native to North America.
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