“Apples marked with the impression of a leaf, are sold in the bazars of Persia. To produce this impression, a leaf of some flower or shrub is glued or fastened with a thread on several parts of the fruit, while yet growing ; the apple gradually opens, and all that the sun reaches becomes red ; the parts covered by the leaves remaining of a pale green or yellow colour.“
J. C. Loudon (ed.) The Gardeners Magazine and Register of Rural & Domestic Improvement vol 1 (1826)
Summer art project, anyone?