﻿Trees of Neiv York State 235 



ROSACEAE 



Pyrus Malus L. [Mains Mains (L.) Britt.] 



Apple 



Habit — A small tree 30-50 feet in height with a short trunk 1-3 feet in 

 diameter Avhich breaks up a few feet above the ground into stout, wide- 

 spreading limbs to form a broad, rounded head. 



Leaves — Alternate, ovate to oval, %-Z inches long, blunt or abruptly pointed 

 at the apex, rounded or somewhat heart-shaped at the base, irregularly 

 serrate or entire, at maturity thick, dark dull green and quite glabrous 

 above, close white-woolly beneath, borne on stout, hairy petioles, %-2 

 inches long. 



Flowers — Appearing during May and June when the leaves are about one- 

 third grown, perfect, 1-2 inches in diameter, borne on stout woolly pedi- 

 cels in terminal, few-flowered cymes. Calyx gamosepalous, urn-shaped, 

 woolly, .5-lobed, the lobes narrowly triangular and acute, reflexed, per- 

 sistent in the fruit. Petals white or pinkish white, obovate, rounded at 

 the apex, clawed at the base, inserted with the stamens on the calyx- 

 tube. Stamens about 20, shorter than the petals, the stout filaments 

 bearing yellowish or purple anthers. Pistil consisting of an inferior 5- 

 celled ovary and 5 filiform, hairy styles, each terminated by a capitate 

 stigma. 



Fruit — A depressed-globose, waxy-green pome, 1-3 inches in diameter, 

 marked at the top by the persistent calyx-lobes, borne on a slender stalk 

 1-1% inches long, ripening and turning yellowish green or reddish in the 

 autumn. Flesh coarse and sour. Seeds chestnut-broAvn, lustrous. 



Winter characters — T\\-igs rather stout, sparingly pubescent or smooth, red- 

 dish or purplish brown, at length dark grayish brown and smooth. Fruit- 

 spurs short, stout, roughened by numerous leaf -scars. Buds ovate, obtuse, 

 tomenttose, grayish white, %-% of an inch long. Mature bark thin, 

 grayish brown, sloughing off in small, thin, irregular scales. 



Habitat — A " weed ' ' tree growing as an escape on a wide variety of sites in 

 pastures, thickets, and along fences and roadsides. Seeds often dissemi- 

 nated by cattle which eat the sour fruit. 



Range — Supposed to have come originally from southeastern Europe and 

 western Asia but cultivated since early times in the Old and New World. 

 Widely naturalized in the eastern United States as an escape. Zones A, B, 

 C, and D. 



Uses — Not a timber species. Wood hard, strong, close-grained^ reddish brown 

 with thin, pale sapwood. Used for firewood and occasionally for tool 

 handles. The importance of the species lies in its horticultural value as 

 the stock from which the various varieties of cultivated apples have been 

 derived. Dwarf- and double-flowered forms are grown ornamentally. 



