Apple

The apple tree (often named Malus domestica by mistake) is best known for the apple, the tree’s usually sweet and pomaceous fruit. Apples originate from Asia and Europe and were grown there for thousands of years, before European colonists introduced the tree to North America.

The deciduous apple tree belongs to the rose family and is now cultivated for its fruit all over the world. It is the most common cultivated species of the genus Malus.

Currently, more than 7,500 known varieties of apples are being cultivated, each with their own characteristics. Ripe apples usually have a red, yellow, green, pink, or russetted coloured skin. Additionally there exists also a wide range of bi- or tri-colored cultivars. The skin of the apple is protected by a layer of epicuticular wax. Apples usually have a yellowish-white coloured exocarp. Sometimes their flesh is also pink or yellow.