Blood apple
| Blood apple | |
|---|---|
| Synonyms | Purple apple |
| Art | Cultivated apple ( Malus domestica ) |
| List of apple varieties | |
The blood apple ( Malus × purpurea (A.Barbier) Rehder ) or purple apple is a hybrid bred by crossing species of the genus apples ( Malus ) . Due to the decorative flowers and the striking fruits, it is often used as an ornamental wood but also as a bee pasture.
description
The blood apple is a 6 to 8 meter high, strong- growing tree with dark and sometimes shiny bark and black-red branches. The leaves are 8 to 9 centimeters long, ovate, pointed and serrate, or slightly lobed on long shoots. The upper side of the leaf is glabrous and shiny, the underside slightly hairy. Young leaves are brown-red and later turn dark green.
The thin flower stalks are 2.5 to 3 inches long. The hermaphrodite, five-fold flowers are 3 to 4 centimeters in diameter and are radially symmetrical with a double flower envelope . The five free petals are initially purple, but quickly fade. The long-stalked fruits have a diameter of 1.5 to 2.5 centimeters, are usually shiny, turn purple when ripe and taste tart. The five sepals are retained on the fruit. The blood apple blooms from April to May.
Location
The blood apple is a demanding but adaptable wood. It grows best in fresh to moist, slightly acidic to alkaline, loamy soils in sunny to light-shaded locations. The blood apple loves warmth and is usually frost hardy .
Systematics
The blood apple is a cross between the crimson wood apple ( Malus × atrosaguinea (hort. Ex Späth) CKSchneid. , Also a hybrid ) and the locust apple ( Malus pumila Mill. ). It was first described in 1910 by A. Barbier as a variety of the Japanese wild apple ( Malus floribunda var. Purpurea , Basionym ), and was classified by Alfred Rehder in 1920 in Journal of the Arnold Arboretum , Volume 2, p. 57 as a hybrid Malus × purpurea .
Malus × purpurea belongs to the Malus section in the genus Malus .
use
The blood apple is often used as an ornamental wood because of its decorative flowers and striking fruits , it also serves as a bee pasture.
Several varieties have been bred including:
- 'Aldenhamensis' is a tree up to 8 meters high with spreading branches. The leaves are purple when they shoot and later turn bronze-brown. The flowers are purple-red from the bud and half- filled with six to ten petals . The dull, brownish-red fruits are flattened, spherical and 1.5 to 2 centimeters in diameter. The variety is medium early and profusely flowering, often with a second flowering from September to October.
- 'Eleyi' with large, shiny leaves that are initially purple and later green. The flowers are 3 to 3.5 inches wide and light wine red. The fruits are 1.5 to 2 centimeters in diameter. They are deep red and have long stems. The variety is very profuse and is planted frequently.
proof
literature
- Andreas Roloff , Andreas Bärtels: Flora of the woods. Purpose, properties and use. With a winter key from Bernd Schulz. 3rd, corrected edition. Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart (Hohenheim) 2008, ISBN 978-3-8001-5614-6 , p. 416.
- Jost Fitschen: Woody flora . 12th, revised and expanded edition. Quelle & Meyer, Wiebelsheim 2007, ISBN 978-3-494-01422-7 , p. 597 .
- Gordon Cheers (Ed.): Botanica Trees & Shrubs . Tandem Verlag GmbH, 2006, ISBN 3-8331-2003-7 , p. 549 .
Individual evidence
- ^ German name after Fitschen: Gehölzflora , p. 597
- ↑ German name after Bruno P. Kremer: Trees . Mosaik Verlag GmbH, Munich 1984, p. 184 .
- ↑ a b Cheers: Botanica Trees & Shrubs , p. 549
- ↑ a b c d e f g Roloff et al .: Flora der Gehölze , p. 416
- ↑ a b Fitschen: Gehölzflora , p. 597
- ↑ Malus floribunda var. Purpurea . In: Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). United States Department of Agriculture, accessed March 11, 2012 .
- ↑ a b Malus × purpurea . In: Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). United States Department of Agriculture, accessed March 11, 2012 .
