APPLES - A SHORT, IMPERFECT HISTORY

Origin:

Apples, part of the vast Rosaceae family, are thought to have originally been a cross between a primitive plum from the rose family and a flower of the Spiraea family called the meadowsweet, resulting in a tiny, bitter primitive fruit. Paleobotanists believe that eight pairs of chromosomes from the plum united with nine pairs of chromosomes from the meadowsweet to form the first Malus. It is these thirty-four chromosomes which create the opportunity for the most diverse and variable fruit on earth; now more than ten thousand varieties. Apples do not breed "true" from seed.

Domestication:

The precise origins of the domestic apple, Malus X domestica, are obscure. The primary ancestor is probably a central Asian species, Malus sieversii. It is from central Asia, on the slopes of the Tien-Shan or Heavenly Mountains of Kazakhstan, in an area where large-fruit domesticated apples still remain. Near the present city of Almaty (formerly Alama Ata) which translates as "Father of Apples," are remnants of primeval forests where fruit trees still remain, and are now being studied in "apple genome" projects. Seeds and cuttings from apples and other temperature climate fruits probably spread from this region into the mid-east, across Europe, up into northern latitudes, and to the Atlantic Ocean. Nature and man, through selection and rejection over thousands of years have created a complex and still evolving fruit.

The New World:

Apples have migrated along with a diverse array of people and cultures all over the world. Settlers from European countries brought with them the seeds and apples from all their home countries, and planted orchards all along the eastern seaboard. From these orchards the pioneers took seeds and cuttings to start orchards in the Midwest and West. Spanish and Portuguese took apples to South America. Members of the Spanish Mission carried apples northward into California. In this century, new apple varieties have been developed and planted all over the world. Russia has been the largest producer of apples in the world, now it appears that China is rapidly taking over this spot.