Subsequently, people moving into Europe may have brought the apple there.Ī third potential source for the ancestor of the modern table apple is Malus sylvestris, the yellow and green crabapples indigenous to northern Europe. The Silk Route, the overland trade connection between the Far East and the Mediterranean, passed through both these locations. A second possible source is the Caucasus Mountains in southwest Asia. It was thought that it originally came from Kazakhstan in south central Asia, where wild apple trees, Malus sieversii, still exist in vast forests. The origin of the modern table apple has been, and still is, a topic of much discussion. The apple was the result of the cross-pollination of an ancient plum and a plant we call meadowsweet, in the genus Spiraea.

Apples, pears, plums, quinces, peaches, cherries, strawberries, raspberries and blackberries all belong to the Rose (Rosaceae) plant family. Over thousands and thousands of years, many of the fruits that we enjoy today evolved from this early rose. An early form of rose - low to the ground, thorny, with small, white, five-petaled flowers - was one of the earliest flowering plants to develop on earth. Where Did Apples Come From?Ībout 80 million years ago, the earth’s climate was temperate and good for plant growth. Neither apples nor crabapples outcompete native vegetation for space, light and nutrients. Only four species of apple, all of them crabapples, are native to North America. We include information on some of the many birds, mammals, and insects that use apple trees and the clearings around them.Īpple trees and crabapple trees are in the genus Malus. This fact sheet describes a systematic way to restore and care for apple trees, to enable them to thrive and provide food and other habitat resources for wildlife. This region is fortunate to have many apple trees growing in the wild but, for a variety of reasons, a lot of these trees are being lost each year. Other Cultivated Fruit-Bearing Trees and ShrubsĪpple trees are important for wildlife in Maine and all the New England states.Birds that Use Apple Trees and Crabapple Trees.How Wildlife Will Use Your Wild Apple Trees.

Other Ways to Improve Habitat Around Wild Apple Trees.

Crabapples: How Care Differs from Table Apple Trees.

Updated by Extension Educator Kathryn Hopkins, University of Maine Cooperative Extensionįor information about UMaine Extension programs and resources, visit .įind more of our publications and books at /publications/.

Apples by Frank Browning