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Malus domestica (Domestic Apple) Life
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Archaeoplastida >
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> Tracheophyta (vascular plants) > Euphyllophyta > Lignophyta (woody plants)
> Spermatophyta (seed plants) > Angiospermae (flowering
plants) > Eudicotyledons > Order: Rosales
> Family: Rosaceae
Wild apples were eaten by people from the
earliest of times. The domestic apples we eat nowadays are thought to have been
selectively bred from Malus sieversii although Malus sylvestris
may also have contributed. New apple varieties are propagated by grafting, rather than
from seed or from cuttings.
Recent evidence suggests that the Domestic apple is derived
mainly if not exclusively from Malus sieversii although Malus
sylvestris may also have contributed. It is difficult to ascertain when
domestication of apples began but apple remains in archaeological sites dating
back to the Neolithic suggest that from the earliest times, apples were being
harvested from the wild and eaten. Presumably apple trees started growing round
habitations from discarded apple pips. However, the earliest evidence of apple
domestication dates back to only the 10th Century BC from a site in Israel
between Sinai and the Negev. This site is well outside the range of the wild
apple species yet apple cores occur in large numbers suggesting apple trees were
cultivated and probably irrigated as this region is so dry.
The first record of grafting of apple cultivars is from
Greece in about 300 BC. The development of grafting techniques was important as
apple plants do not root readily from cuttings. Grafting permitted favourable
varieties to be propagated clonally which was important because the favourable
characters would have been diluted by outcrossing if seeds were used. The
rootstocks for grafts were usually seedlings of wild species. During the Middle
Ages, peasants and monasteries produced many apple varieties and in the 1500's
and 1600's rich people with large gardens cultivated numerous varieties. Many
apple cultivars were developed in eastern North America, arising from different
varieties of seed brought over by immigrants from various parts of Europe. For
instance, the Golden Delicious arose from a chance seedling in 1900 in West
Virginia. Apples are grown in temperate regions all over the World and some of
the varieties were developed in Australia and New Zealand, the most conspicuous
example being the Granny Smith apple that originated from a seedling in New
South Wales (Australia) in 1868.
Links
References
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Sauer, J.D. 1993. Historical geography of
crop plants - a select roster. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida.
Text by Hamish G. Robertson |
