268 DOMESTICATED ANIMALS AND PLANTS 
the Basque sagara indicates a name independent of Aryan influ- 
ence. Being an ancient Iberian people, the inference is warranted 
that the apple was cultivated there before the Aryan invasion. 
Candolle makes the broad statement that the apple grows 
wild ‘‘ throughout Europe, excepting in the extreme north,” as 
well as to the south of the Caucasus and certain districts of 
Persia. At Trebizond, in Asiatic Turkey, the botanist Bourgeau 
is reported to have seen “quite a small forest” of apples, and 
there is good reason to believe that the tree grows wild in the 
mountainous parts of northwestern India. 
The readiness with which the apple escapes from cultivation 
and ‘“‘runs wild” makes it difficult to set original limits to its 
habitat, but botanists and fruit men are quite agreed, I think, 
that this great fruit is a native of southeastern Europe and the 
contiguous regions. 
Besides the malus proper we have the wild crab apples, grow- 
ing in various parts of the north-temperate regions. The Siberian 
crab (Pyrus baccata) has not only been semidomesticated, but has 
been hybridized with the common apple, giving Pyras prunifolia, 
with a foliage, as the name indicates, resembling that of the 
plum. In this connection it ought to be remarked that the crab 
apples of all species and varieties are inferior to the common 
apple, fit only for cooking, or eating fresh when nothing better 
is available. The foliage and bloom, however, are so abundant 
and so beautiful that the crab has become a favorite tree for 
ornamental planting. 
America has no less than five native apples, all crabs.!. The 
largest of these is the Oregon crab, which ranges from northern 
California to Alaska, and is a real tree, often reaching a height 
1“ Evolution of our Native Fruits,” pp. 249-273. This fascinating book is one 
of Bailey’s best, and should find a place on the shelves of every school library. 
It gives a full account of the wild native fruits of North America, and is not 
only a mine of information but a source of inspiration as well. Its reading 
cannot fail to inspire the student through the wealth of natural resources in 
plant life, and it is fortunate that the study could be made in America before, 
as in the rest of the world, it should be too late. 
