486 NEW ENGLAND TREES IN WINTER. 



APPLE 



Pyrus Malus L. 

 Mains Mains (L.) Britton. 



HABIT A tree reaching 30-50 ft. in height and a trunk diameter of 

 2-3 ft.; trunk short with wide spreading limbs forming a broad round- 

 topped head of familiar and very characteristic habit. 



BARK Grayish-brown, scaling off in thin, brittle, flaky plates. 



TWIGS Stout, pale-woolly, at least toward the apex, mostly reddish- 

 brown, rarely yellowish, shining where free from wool, with character- 

 istically slightly bitter and licorice-like taste when chewed; short, 

 stubby, contorted fruit-spurs abundantly present. LENTICELS scat- 

 tered, pale, more or less conspicuous. PITH white. 



LEAF-SCARS Alternate, more than 2-ranked, narrow, crescent- 

 shaped, raised. STIPULE-SCARS absent. BUNDLE-SCARS 3, often 

 indistinct. 



BUDS Ovate, blunt, bright reddish-brown, more or less densely 

 covered with pale wool; terminal bud 8 mm. or less long, lateral buds 

 smaller, often triangular, flattened and appressed against twig. BUD- 

 SCALES ovate, about 3 scales visible to lateral bud, more to terminal 

 bud. 



FRUIT A large fleshy pome. 



COMPARISONS The Apple Tree resembles the Pear but is readily 

 distinguished from this species by its low spreading habit of growth. 

 The numerous varieties differ somewhat in the twig characters, some 

 with twigs and buds nearly smooth, others with yellowish rather than 

 reddish-brown twigs. The licorice-like taste of the twigs seems to be 

 a constant character for the Apple. Among its distinguishing characters 

 which in the main hold good, may be mentioned the pale wool on the 

 twigs and buds, the flat appressed lateral buds and the reddish-brown 

 color of the twigs. 



DISTRIBUTION A native of the Old World, cultivated in this 

 country for its fruit and frequently escaped from cultivation in waste 

 places when it assumes a bushier habit of growth with smaller twigs 

 frequently beset with short sharp-pointed thorn-like branches. 



WOOD Hard, tough, close-grained, reddish-brown, used for tool 

 handles, shoe makers' lasts, by the cabinet maker and esteemed as 

 a fuel in open grate fires. 



