Apple

Where it grows

Cultivated apples descend from Malus sieversii, a wild apple of the Tian Shan mountains of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Caravan traders carried the species along the Silk Road into Persia and Europe, then European settlers spread it worldwide. China is now by far the largest producer.

How to recognise it

Apple trees have grey, scaly bark, simple ovate toothed leaves, and clusters of five-petalled white to pinkish blossoms in spring. The fruit is a pome — a fleshy hypanthium surrounding a leathery core of seeds. Domestic apples come in roughly 7,500 cultivars, from McIntosh to Pink Lady to the heirloom Cox’s Orange Pippin.

Uses

Apples are eaten fresh, baked into pies, pressed into juice, fermented into hard cider and applejack, dried as snacks, and made into vinegar, sauce, and butter. Cider apples and cooking apples are bred for different flavours and tannins than dessert varieties.

Genetics

Apple seedlings rarely come true to type, so almost every named cultivar is propagated by grafting onto rootstock — a key innovation that allowed orchardists to fix prized chance seedlings such as the Bramley.