"Apple tree" redirects here.
For other uses, see Apple tree (disambiguation) and Apple
(disambiguation).
Apple
'Cripps Pink' cultivar
Flowers of M. domestica
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Rosaceae
Genus: Malus
Species: M. domestica
Binomial name
Malus domestica
(Suckow) Borkh.
Synonyms[1][2]
M. communis Desf.,
1768
M. pumila Mil.
M. frutescens Medik.
M. paradisiaca (L.)
Medikus
M. sylvestris Mil.
Pyrus malus L.
Pyrus
malus var. paradisiaca
L.
Pyrus dioica Moench
An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (Malus spp.). Fruit trees of
the orchard or domestic apple (Malus domestica), the most widely grown in the genus,
are cultivated worldwide. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, Malus
sieversii, is still found. Apples have been grown for thousands of years in Eurasia before they
were introduced to North America by European colonists. Apples have cultural significance in
many mythologies (including Norse and Greek) and religions (such as Christianity in Europe).
Apples grown from seeds tend to be very different from those of their parents, and the
resultant fruit frequently lacks desired characteristics. For commercial purposes, including
botanical evaluation, apple cultivars are propagated by clonal grafting onto rootstocks. Apple
trees grown without rootstocks tend to be larger and much slower to fruit after planting.
Rootstocks are used to control the speed of growth and the size of the resulting tree, allowing
for easier harvesting.
There are more than 7,500 cultivars of apples. Different cultivars are bred for various tastes and
uses, including cooking, eating raw, and cider or apple juice production. Trees and fruit are
prone to fungal, bacterial, and pest problems, which can be controlled by a number
of organic and non-organic means. In 2010, the fruit's genome was sequenced as part of
research on disease control and selective breeding in apple production.
Etymology
The word apple, whose Old English ancestor is æppel, is descended from the Proto-
Germanic noun *aplaz, descended in turn from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ébōl.[3] As late as the
17th century, the word also functioned as a generic term for all fruit, including nuts. This can be
compared to the 14th-century Middle English expression appel of paradis, meaning a banana.[4]