Editing Apple

{{about|the fruit tree|other uses}}

The '''apple tree''' (''[[Malus]] domestica'') is a tree that grows fruit (such as apples) in the [[Rosaceae|rose family]] best known for its juicy, tasty fruit. It is grown worldwide as a fruit tree. It is considered to be a worldwide low-cost fruit harvest-able all over the world. 

The tree originated in [[Central Asia]]. Apples have been grown for thousands of years in Asia and Europe. They were brought to [[North America]] by European settlers. Apples have religious and mythological significance in many cultures.

Apples are generally propagated by [[grafting]], although wild apples grow readily from [[seed]]. Apple trees are large if grown from seed, but small if grafted onto [[roots]] (rootstock). There are more than 7,500 known [[cultivars]] of apples, with a range of desired characteristics. Different cultivars are bred for various tastes and uses: cooking, eating raw and [[cider]] production are the most common uses. 

Trees and fruit are attacked by [[fungi]], [[bacteria]] and [[pests]].   In 2010, the fruit's [[genome]] was [[sequence analysis|sequenced]] as part of research on disease control and [[selective breeding]] in apple production.

Worldwide production of apples in 2013 was 90.8 million tonnes. [[China]] grew 49% of the total.<ref name="faostat">{{cite web|url=http://faostat3.fao.org/browse/Q/QC/E|publisher= FAOSTAT, UN Food & Agriculture Organization, Statistics Division|title=Production/Crops, Apple, Area by World|date=2013|accessdate=8 May 2016}}</ref>

== Botanical information ==
The apple has a small, leaf-shedding tree that grows up to {{convert|3|to|12|m}} tall. The apple tree has a broad crown with thick [[twig]]s.
The [[leaf|leaves]] are [[Phyllotaxis|alternately arranged]] simple [[oval]]s. They are 5 to 12 [[centimeter|centimetres]] long and 3–6centimetres (1.2–2.4in) wide. It has a sharp top with a soft underside. [[Blossom]]s come out in [[spring]] at the same time that the leaves begin to bud. The [[flower]]s are white. They also have a slightly pink color. They are five [[petal]]ed, and 2.5 to 3.5 centimetres (0.98 to 1.4 in) in [[wikt:diameter|diameter]]. The fruit [[wikt:maturity|matures]] in [[autumn]]. It is usually 5 to 9 centimetres (2.0 to 3.5 in) in diameter. There are five [[carpel]]s arranged in a [[star]] in the middle of the fruit. Every carpel has one to three [[seed]]s.
[[Image:95apple.jpeg|thumb|left|Wild ''Malus sieversii'' apple in [[Kazakhstan]]]]

=== Wild ancestors ===
The wild [[ancestor]] of apple trees is ''[[Malus sieversii]]''. They grow wild in the [[mountain]]s of [[Central Asia]] in the north of [[Kazakhstan]], [[Kyrgyzstan]], [[Tajikistan]], and [[Xinjiang]], [[People's Republic of China|China]],<ref name="Architecture and size relations: an essay on the apple (Malus x domestica, Rosaceae) tree"/> and possibly also ''Malus sylvestris''.<ref name="Coart"/> Unlike [[wikt:domestication|domesticated]] apples, their leaves become red in autumn.<ref>Archetti M. (2009). [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2684696/pdf/rspb20090355.pdf Evidence from the domestication of apple for the maintenance of autumn colours by coevolution.] Proc Biol Sci. 276(1667):2575-80. PMID 19369261</ref> They are being used recently to develop ''Malus domestica'' to grow in colder [[wikt:climate|climates]].<ref name="app3"/>

==History==

The apple tree was possibly the earliest tree to be cultivated.<ref name=app6/> Its fruits have become better over thousands of years. It is said that [[Alexander the Great]] discovered [[wikt:small|dwarf]] apples in [[Asia Minor]] in 300 [[BC]]. [[Asia]] and [[Europe]] have used winter apples as an important food for thousands of years. From when [[Europe]]ans arrived, [[Argentina]] and the [[United States]] have used apples as food as well.<ref name=app6>{{cite web
|url= http://www.vegparadise.com/highestperch39.html
|title= An apple a day keeps the doctor away
|accessdate= 27 January 2008
|publisher=vegparadise.com
}}</ref> Apples were brought to [[North America]] in the 1600s. The first apple [[orchard]] on the North American continent was said to be near [[Boston]] in 1625. In the 1900s, costly fruit [[industry|industries]], where the apple was a very important species, began developing.<ref name=app3/>

== In culture ==
=== Paganism ===
[[Image:Carl Larsson Brita as Iduna.jpg|thumb|"Brita as [[Iðunn|Iduna]]" (1901) by Carl Larsson]]

In [[Norse mythology]], the goddess [[Iðunn]] gives apples to the gods in ''[[Prose Edda]]'' (written in the 13th century by [[Snorri Sturluson]]) that makes them young forever. English [[wikt:scholar|scholar]] H. R. Ellis Davidson suggests that apples were related to [[religion|religious]] practices in [[Germanic paganism]]. It was from there, she claims, that [[Norse paganism]] developed. She points out that buckets of apples were discovered in the place of burial for the Oseberg [[ship]] in [[Norway]]. She also remarks that fruit and [[Nut (fruit)|nuts]] (Iðunn having been described as changing into a nut in ''Skáldskaparmál'') have been discovered in the early [[grave]]s of the [[Germanic peoples]] in [[England]]. They have also been discovered somewhere else on the continent of Europe. She suggests that this may have had a [[symbol]]ic meaning. Nuts are still a symbol of [[fertility]] in Southwest England.

== Cooking ==
Sometimes apples are eaten after they are [[cooked]]. Often apples are eaten uncooked. Apples can also be made into [[drink]]s. [[Apple juice]] and apple [[cider]] are apple drinks. 

The flesh of the fruit is firm with a taste anywhere from sour to sweet. Apples used for cooking are sour, and need to be cooked with sugar, while other apples are sweet, and do not need cooking. There are some seeds at the core, that can be removed with a [[tool]] that removes the core, or by carefully using a [[knife]].

The [[scientific name]] of the apple tree genus in the [[Latin]] language is ''Malus''. Most apples that people grow are of the ''Malus domestica'' species.

Most apples are good to eat [[raw]] (not cooked), and are also used in many kinds of [[bake]]d foods, such as [[apple pie]]. Apples are cooked until they are [[wikt:soft|soft]] to make [[apple sauce]].

Apples are also made into the [[drink]]s [[apple juice]] and [[cider]]. Usually, cider contains a little [[alcohol]], about as much as [[beer]]. The regions of [[Brittany]] in [[France]] and [[Cornwall]] in [[England]] are known for their apple ciders.

== Apple cultivars ==
If one wants to grow a certain type of apple it is not possible to do this by planting a seed from the wanted type. The seed will have [[DNA]] from the apple that the seeds came from, but it will also  have DNA from the apple flower that [[pollinate]]d the seeds, which may well be a different type. This means that the tree which would grow from planting would be a mixture of two. In order to grow a certain type of apple, a small twig, or 'scion', is cut from the tree that grows the type of apple desired, and then added on to a specially grown [[stump]] called a rootstock. The tree that grows will only create apples of the type needed.

There are more than 7,500 known [[cultivar]]s of apples.<ref name="Elzebroek">{{cite book |last=Elzebroek |first=A.T.G. |author2=Wind, K. |title=Guide to Cultivated Plants |publisher=CAB International |location= Wallingford |date=2008 |page=27 |isbn= 1845933567 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=YvU1XnUVxFQC&lpg=PT39&dq=apple%20cultivars%207%2C500&pg=PT39#v=onepage&q=&f=false}}</ref> Different cultivars are available for [[temperate]] and [[subtropical]] climates. One large collection of over 2,100<ref>{{Cite web
 |url= http://www.fastltd.co.uk/NationalFruitCollection.html
 |title= Taking care of the National Fruit Collection at Brogdale, Faversham
 |work=fastltd.co.uk
 |accessdate=29 April 2010
}}</ref> apple cultivars is at the National Fruit Collection in [[England]]. Most of these cultivars are grown for eating fresh (dessert apples). However, some are grown simply for cooking or making [[cider]]. Cider apples are usually too [[wikt:tart|tart]] to eat immediately. However, they give cider a rich flavor that dessert apples cannot.<ref name="apples1">{{cite web
|url= http://casfs.ucsc.edu/publications/news%20and%20notes/Fall_06_N&N.pdf
|title= Autumn Apple Musings
|accessdate= 24 January 2008
|format= pdf
|pages= 1–2
|author=Sue Tarjan
|publisher=News & Notes of the UCSC Farm & Garden, Center for Agroecology & Sustainable Food Systems
|date=Fall 2006
}}</ref>

Most popular apple cultivars are soft but [[wikt:crisp|crisp]]. Colorful skin, easy shipping, disease resistance, '[[Red Delicious]]' apple shape, and popular flavor are also needed.<ref name="England">{{cite web
|url= http://www.plantpress.com/wildlife/o523-apple.php
|title= Apple - Malus domestica
|accessdate= 22 January 2008
|publisher=Natural England
}}</ref> Modern apples are usually sweeter than older cultivars. This is because popular tastes in apples have become different. Most [[North America]]ns and [[Europe]]ans enjoy sweet apples.<ref name=World/> Extremely sweet apples with hardly any acid taste are popular in [[Asia]]<ref name=World>{{cite web
|url= http://www.fas.usda.gov/htp2/circular/1998/98-03/applefea.html
|title= World apple situation
|accessdate= 24 January 2008
}}</ref> and India.<ref name=apples1/>

== In the United Kingdom ==
In the [[United Kingdom]] there are about 3000 different types of apples. The most common apple type grown in England is the 'Bramley seedling', which is a popular cooking apple.

Apple orchards are not as common as they were in the early 1900s, when apples were rarely brought in from other countries. Organizations such as [http://www.commonground.org.uk/ Common Ground] teach people about the importance of rare and local varieties of fruit. '[[Apple Day]]' is celebrated each [[October 21]] in many countries.

== In North America ==
Many apples are grown in [[temperate]] parts of the [[United States]] and [[Canada]]. In many areas where apple growing is important, people have huge celebrations:

* [[Annapolis Valley Apple Blossom Festival]] - held five days every spring (May-June) in [[Nova Scotia]]
* [[Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival]] - held six days every spring in [[Winchester, Virginia]].
* [[Washington State Apple Blossom Festival]] - held two weeks every spring (April-May) in [[Wenatchee, Washington]]

== Varieties of apples ==
[[File:Golden delicious apple.jpg|right|thumb|A Golden Delicious apple.]]
There are lots of different varieties of apples, including:

* [[Fuji (apple)]]
* [[Gala]]
* [[Golden Delicious]] (sometimes called a Green Delicious Apple)
* [[Granny Smith]]
* [[Jonagold]]
* [[McIntosh]]
* [[Pink Lady]]
* [[Red Delicious]]
* [[Winesap]]
* [[Cox's Orange Pippin]]

== Family ==
Apples are in the group [[Maloideae]]. It is a subfamily of the family ''[[Rosaceae]]''. They are in the same subfamily as [[pear]]s. Its family is the family of rose like plants, and roses are in the family.

==References==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em|refs=

<ref name="Architecture and size relations: an essay on the apple (Malus x domestica, Rosaceae) tree">{{cite journal |last=Lauri |first=Pierre-éricPierre-éric |author2= Karen Maguylo, and Catherine Trottier |date=2006 |title= Architecture and size relations: an essay on the apple (Malus x domestica, Rosaceae) tree|journal=American Journal of Botany |publisher=Botanical Society of America |issue=93|pages=357–368}}</ref>

<ref name=Coart>Coart E. ''et al'' 2006. Chloroplast diversity in the genus ''Malus'': new insights into the relationship between the European wild apple (''Malus sylvestris'' (L.) Mill.) and the domesticated apple (''Malus domestica'' Borkh.). ''Mol. Ecol.'' '''15(8)''': 2171-82.</ref>

<ref name="app3">{{cite book|last=Sauer|first=Jonathan D.|title=Historical geography of crop plants: a select roster|publisher=CRC Press|date=1993|pages=109|isbn=0849389011}}</ref>}}

== Further reading ==
* Potter D. ''et al'' 2007. Phylogeny and classification of Rosaceae. ''Plant Systematics and Evolution''. '''266''' (1–2): 5–43.

== Other websites ==
{{sisterlinks}}
* {{Cite web
 |url= http://www.dmoz.org//Home/Cooking/Fruits_and_Vegetables/Apples//
 |title=Open Directory - Home: Cooking: Fruits and Vegetables: Apples
 |work=dmoz.org
 |accessdate=29 April 2010
}}
* {{Cite web
 |url= http://www.nationalfruitcollection.org.uk/
 |title=National Fruit Collection
 |work=nationalfruitcollection.org.uk
 |accessdate=29 April 2010
}}
* {{Cite web
 |url= http://www.brogdalecollections.co.uk/
 |title=Brogdale Farm - home of the National Fruit Collection
 |work=brogdalecollections.co.uk
 |accessdate=29 April 2010
}}

{{Fruits}}

[[Category:Basic English 850 words]]
[[Category:Apples| ]]
[[Category:Rosaceae]]