THE APPLE. 



Pyrus malus. 



The Apple-tree being an undoubted native 

 of Great Britain, demands to be noticed among 

 our Forest Trees ; though, from having been so 

 long and so extensively cultivated, it is much 

 better known as a tenant of the orchard than 

 of the forest. Nevertheless, it is frequently to 

 be met with in a perfectly wild state, possessing 

 little or no value for its fruit, but forming in 

 spring, with its rosy and fragrant buds, a beau- 

 tiful ornament either to the woodland or the 

 hedgerow. 



It diifers materially from the Pear-tree in 

 shape, and is characterized by its crooked and 

 knotty branches, which, if the tree is growing 

 in an open space, spread equally on all sides, 

 and give to it an irregularly hemispherical form. 

 The leaves are generally wider in proportion 

 to. their length than those of the Pear, less 

 pointed, and slightly dovviiy beneath. The fruit 

 may readily be distinguished by having its base, 

 at the insertion of the stem, concave ; that of 

 the Pear being always convex. The branches 

 are, both in the wild and cultivated states, des- 

 titute of thorns. It grows wild in most coun- 

 tries of Europe, and in western Asia, China^ 

 and Japan. 



