Flower Bio: Apple Tree (Malus pumila)
Botanical Family: Rosaceae (Rose Family)
Related to: cotoneaster, nectarine, cherry, almond, plum
Born in: The wild ancestor of the apple tree originated in the mountains of Central Asia. Apples were grown in Asia and Europe for thousands of years, and then brought to North America by European colonists in the 1600s.
Bred by: The Excelsior Experiment Station at the University of Minnesota has bred and introduced important apples since the 1920s, including ‘Honeycrisp’.
All-Star Varieties: There are more than 7,000 known cultivars of apples. Some of the most popular apples include, ‘Golden Delicious‘, ‘McIntosh’, ‘Granny Smith’, ‘Fuji’, and ‘Gala‘.
Fun Fact: Over 85% of the apple varieties grown in the early 1900s no longer exist. The average age of a maintained apple tree is 100 years, but the apple tree is most productive for 20-50 of those years.
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