Apples

  I have just finished harvesting the apples in my garden, and have been noticing "wild" apple trees in the area. There is one on the Lower section of Newtonmore Golf Course, about 15m from the fairway.  

It is  a big spreading tree and the apples are a yellow and red colour and could be spotted from some distance away. 

I tried one - it looked fine and smelt  quite fragrant but tasted unpleasant.  Not sharp or sour like an unripe apple, more a strong bitter taste from the skin. How did the tree get there?  I suppose that someone threw an apple core away and one of the seeds germinated. You might wonder why it did not taste like the original apple.  I think the answer is that the blossom on the garden or commercial tree, can be pollinated by any other tree, such as a crab apple, and although the fruit will be true to type, the seeds will be a mixture between two trees and not come true.

There are two other "wild" apple trees near the Folk Museum and alongside the Kingussie Road. They are probably apple core throwouts as well. The first one is quite close to the entrance and had lots of tiny apples on it and plenty on the ground.

The second one is much older and is alongside the cycle path.  I thought at first that it had no apples at all, but there were one or two very small ones.

Here are the apples from all three trees:

You might wonder why I have put quotes around "wild".... Strictly speaking the wild apple is Malus sylvestris, the Crab Apple, and the tree that is grown in gardens and orchards is just known as Apple, Malus domestica. The Crab Apple is native and the fruits are much smaller, 2-3cm, about an inch, across. The Apple is the result of breeding and when the tree is self sown the apples tend to be small, yellowish and sour - which would fit the one I tasted. Another difference is that the leaves on the domestic apple are hairy underneath - and when I checked my garden apple trees, this was certainly true.  When I looked at the "wild" apples I could not see any hairs but whether they were just hard to spot, I don't know. Maybe the one with really small apples is a Crab Apple.  It's hard to tell.

In 2018, I heard an interesting talk by Markus Ruhsam who works at the Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh,

How much pure wild Crab Apple (Malus sylvestris) is there in Scotland?

His PowerPoint presentation is available online, just click on the title above. Lots of photos!

They analysed the genetic make-up of different apples.  The Braeburn is 99% M. domestica whereas the Cox's Orange Pippin is about half-half M. domestica and M. sylvestris.

The Bramley (which grows well in my garden in Newtonmore) originated from a pip sown by Mary Ann Brailsford in 1809. The original tree is still alive and has been bought by Nottingham Trent University. Here is a clip from an article giving the history.  The full article can be accessed here.

 In 1809, a pip planted by Mary Ann Brailsford grew into a tree that bore strange fruit. The apples were large, hardy and sour, which drew the attention of seventeen-year-old Henry Merryweather, a local gardener and nurseryman who offered to take cuttings from the tree and cultivate them in his own nursery. As Brailsford had sold the property and the original tree to her son-in-law Bramley, Merryweather was asked to name the new breed in the lad’s honour.