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Caucasus Apple

Malus orientalis

Caucasus Apple
Photo: Łukasz Szczurowski, CC BY-SA 3.0

Malus orientalis, the Caucasus or eastern crabapple, is a small tree in the rose family native from southwest Bulgaria through Turkey and the Caucasus to Iran and Afghanistan. It has been grown for its tart yellow fruit, which is best dried or cooked, and it contributed to the genetic makeup of domestic apples.

Family
Rosaceae (Rose family)
Grows as
Tree
Light
Full sun
Water
Water deeply during dry spells, especially in the first few years while roots establish.
Soil
Well-drained loam; tolerates a range of soils including alkaline ones.
Temperature
Hardy to around -25 °C; best in cool to warm temperate climates.
How easy
Easy
Safety
Not known to be toxic
Native range
SW. Bulgaria to Caucasus and Afghanistan
Climate
temperate

About

Malus orientalis, the eastern crabapple or Caucasus apple, is a species of flowering plant in the family Rosaceae. It is found in Bulgaria, Turkey (including East Thrace), the Caucasus region, Iran, and Afghanistan.

With its relatively large yellow fruit, it has been consumed by people for millennia, with a string of halved, dried fruit being found in a royal tomb at Ur. Drying the fruit and then rehydrating by boiling cuts the tartness. Malus orientalis contributed to the gene pool of domesticated apples, along with M. sieversii and M. sylvestris.

Other Malus plants

Pillar Apple · Southern crab apple · Sweet crab apple · Japanese Crabapple · Oregon Crab Apple · Hall crab apple · Chinese crab apple · Plumleaf crab apple · Sargent's apple · Apple · Asiatic apple · European Crab Apple

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Malus orientalis by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

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