How do you recognise Apple (Malus domestica)?

Leaf

Krzysztof Golik, Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

Apple

Malus domestica Borkh.

Also known as: Domestic apple, Orchard apple

Family: Rosaceae

3 to 10 m tall depending on the rootstock

Orchards and gardens; cultivated throughout temperate Europe

Flowering: April – May

Full sun

Hardy to about -25°C depending on variety

❓ How do you recognise this plant?

Most apple varieties do not self-pollinate — another apple tree of a different variety is needed nearby in order to fruit well. The European crab apple has smaller, sour fruits, and often thorny twigs — the cultivated apple has none.

🍃 Leaves

Ovate, finely toothed, slightly downy underneath, short petiole

🌸 Flowers

White to pinkish, 5 petals, borne in corymbs, rich in nectar

🍎 Fruits

Fleshy, round apple, red, yellow or green depending on the variety

🪵 Bark

Greyish-brown, becoming fissured with age

🗺️ Distribution

Native to Central Asia; grown worldwide in temperate zones, very common in France

🐝 Value for pollinators

Flowers much visited by honey bees; cross-pollination between varieties is essential for good fruit set

✂️ Horticultural uses

Orchard fruit tree, grown in open fields, as an espalier or as a cordon; hundreds of grafted varieties

⚠️ Possible toxicity

Fruit flesh edible; the pips contain a small amount of amygdalin (a cyanide precursor), harmless except when swallowed in large quantities after being chewed