Apple

Malus pumila P. Mill.

         

          

All photographs are copyrighted and are the property of E. Brunner.

Family:  Rosaceae

Native or Introduced to Illinois:  introduced

Leaf:  The ovate leaves are simple and alternate with a serrate margin.  The leaf venation is pinnate.

Flower:  The flowers are white tinged with pink and has yellow anthers. 

Fruit:  The fruit is a pome and is edible.  It can vary from an inch across in the wild to quite large in cultivated varieties.

Twig:   The twigs are smooth and light brown to gray in color.

Bark:  The bark is ash colored or silvery gray, and smooth.

Size/Form/Shape:  The species is a small tree that is commonly branched from the base.

Other:  The apple is a very important tree economically because of its fruit, which is used both whole, as a filling in various deserts, and as a juice. Few other parts of the tree is economically useful, as apple wood, although fairly good, is usually too small and twisty to use in most construction.  The wood is sometimes used in smoking foods and carving.

County Distribution Map for Illinois:  

Sources for the Sullivan Middle School Tree Identification Guide were obtained though the use of the following sites:

• Illinois Plant Information Network (ILPIN) @ http://www.fs.fed.us/ne/delaware/ilpin/ilpin.html#Background
• List of Woody Plants Native or Naturalized in Illinois @ http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/~kenr/woody.html
• Tree Species @ http://ostermiller.org/tree/species.html
• Index to Eastern/Central Trees @ http://www.arborday.org/trees/ECtreelist.html
• ISU Forestry Extension Identification of Common Trees of Iowa @ http://www.extension.iastate.edu/Pages/tree/
• Key to Leaves of Virginia Trees @ http://www.fw.vt.edu/dendro/forsite/key/intro.htm
• List of Native Trees for Use Along Roadsides in Illinois @ http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/~kenr/treetable.html
• The PLANTS Database @ http://plants.usda.gov/

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The information below is from the National Arbor Day Foundation.  This information can be viewed in the original (source) form by visiting The National Arbor Day Foundation at http://www.arborday.org.

Hardness Zones: Zones 4 - 8 (for the Red Jonathan Apple variety)
Apple trees can be expected to grow in the zones shown in color in the arborday.org zone map.