Meet the Tree

Introduction

The wild Apple tends to be a very scrubby, bushy tree, since other trees often deprive it of the light it needs to develop. In the right conditions, it can grow up to 10 meters tall.
In virtually all Apple trees, including cultivated types, the main trunk branches quite low and because of this and its tempting fruit, it is often the first tree children learn to climb. I wonder how many people, like myself, have a special affection for this small tree with its short trunk, because it was the first tree they ever managed to ascend? I remember sitting in its protective leafy boughs, able to look out, over the hedge and into the fields beyond. I felt on top of the world!

The appearance of the un-pruned naked tree in winter can be wonderfully wild and straggly, often with twisted and crooked branches. The spreading branches of the wild crab apple often have a slightly drooping habit. Stout looking dwarf shoots, crowded with many leaf scars, are very common. The buds at the end of the twig tend to be larger than the side buds, which are arranged spirally along the branches.
The truly wild crab apple has thorns and this reminds us that the Crab apple is a member of the Rose family, as are some other magical trees, such as Hawthorn, Rowan, Blackthorn and Cherry. The cultivated, voluptuous Rose is now our symbol of true love. But as we start gathering the remnants of ancient myth and folklore, it becomes increasingly clear that this symbolism originated in the rich spiritual heritage of its tree-sisters, especially the Hawthorn and the Apple. The blossoms from both trees are said to be unlucky to bring in the house:

            “Love is a rose and you better not pick it
            It only grows when it’s on the vine
            Handful of thorns and you know that you’ve missed it
            Loose your love, when you say the word “mine!”.

We are nowadays so used to colourful gardens full of flowers and plants introduced from all over the world! This makes it easy to forget what a huge impact the sight of these wonderful trees must have had on our ancestors, because the flowers and fruits on these trees, even in its wild strains, are relatively larger than those of other indigenous species.
Imagine walking, thousands of years ago, through an ancient woodland in this temperate climate ……. and coming upon an Apple tree fully in bloom in the spring or heavily laden with golden fruits on a lovely autumn day.

The flowers vibrate with an exquisite fragile beauty, that whispers of tenderness, like the touch of lover’s lips, and speaks the poetry of single letters, hummed and moaned and sung, greater than words ……. The fruits decorate the tree joyfully, fresh green at first and then beginning to glow with golden and fiery roundness in a rich feast of abundance.
The spectacular experience of seeing an apple tree, laden with blossoms or fruit, moves a memory deep within us of the story of life and love itself.

The name ‘Crab’ is probably derived from the amazing shapes the wild apple tree is able to create. Its low trunk, hanging branches and vivid aura can give the impression of a giant crab-like creature. The scientific name of the species “Malus”, is derived from the Latin root word ‘mal’, meaning bad or evil, because it refers to the association of the Apple with the fall from paradise. The other scientific Latin descriptors are: ‘communis’ (common), ‘sylvestris’ (of the forest or the woods), ‘domestica’ (means that this species has been under human control for a specific purpose, i.e. ‘domesticated’).
Despite being called ‘Malus’, the evil one, in all the learned books, the Apple tree has always been a very well loved tree. In these pages we will explore many of the hundreds of stories, which testify to the high esteem in which the Apple was held as the fruit of love, fertility, consummation, life, eternal youth and immortality!

The wonderful writer and philosopher Henry David Thoreau made a very interesting observation:

“It is remarkable how closely the history of the apple tree is connected with that of man."

We will gradually discover throughout these pages just how absolutely true Thoreau’s statement is. From a crab to a lusciously luxurious juicy apple the history of the Apple reflects human history. From a few natural crab apple species, the varieties of apples increased to thousands, very much like the diversity and richness of cultures and civilisation all over the world.
And just as so much of our cultural heritage is now under threat by being replaced by a few strains of global techno-culture, so are many of the huge variety of different apples and its varied gene pool also in danger! The commercial apple trade only grows a handful of different fruits and many of the old varieties simply disappear or become textbook curiosa.

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Habitat

Apple tree species are natives of all of the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, and are found as far down as the Himalayan mountains and other more southern mountainous areas where the cool air suits the tree.

In its cultivated form it is of course enormously widespread as a garden and orchard tree. People keen to grow it for its lovely fruit have gone through immense troubles to obtain, nurture and grow many varieties of its cultivated forms all over the globe.

It is thought that the ancestors of our edible apples may have been the result of a natural cross-fertilisation between the relatively sweet Malus pumila and Malus sylvestris in the Caucasus and adjoining areas. The North American Sweet Crab Apple, Malus coronia must have also contributed a lot in developing the variety of lovely apples we can enjoy today.

The wild crab apple is a native tree in Britain and can be found, south of Perthshire, in open woods (mostly Oak-woods) or at the edges of woodlands, as well as in shrub-land and hedges. With the destruction of miles of hedgerows over the last few decennia, lots of apple trees have gone as well. It is possible that many self-seeded apple trees nowadays have grown from the seeds of cultivated trees. Pips from cultivated apples tend to revert to its ancestral appearance. Telltale signs may be gained from the size of its fruits and its taste, which will be larger and sweeter than the original crabs.

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