woodapple

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Woodapple
Systematics
Family : Rose family (Rosaceae)
Subfamily : Spiraeoideae
Tribe : Pyreae
Sub tribus : Pome fruit family (Pyrinae)
Genre : Apples ( malus )
Type : Woodapple
Scientific name
Malus sylvestris
( L. ) Mill.
Malus sylvestris
The leaves are bare underneath.
blossom
The sepals are bare outside.
Short shoot with bud
bud

The wood apple ( Malus sylvestris ), also called European wild apple or Krabapfel (engl. Crab = Holzapfel) referred to, is a deciduous tree -type from the genus of apples ( Malus ) in the family of Rosaceae (Rosaceae).

The crab apple was the tree of the year 2013 in Germany.

description

The crab apple is a deciduous tree that reaches heights of up to 10 m; However, it mainly grows as a large shrub with heights of 3 to 5 m. The crown is dense; the branches and twigs have more or less thorny short shoots. The bark is a gray-brown, longitudinally cracked scale bark . The buds are woolly. The only slightly hairy to almost bald, stalked, acuminate to pointed leaves are egg-shaped, roughly serrated at the edge and 4 to 8 cm long.

The pink-white flowers appear on bare flower stalks in April to May . The spherical fruits are yellow-green with red cheeks, have a diameter of only 2 to 4 cm, are acidic and woody.

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 34.

ecology

The flowers are proterogynous , nectar-bearing disc flowers ; Since the scars ripen several days before the anthers, spontaneous self-pollination is at least difficult, if not impossible. The flowers are pollinated by two-winged and hymenoptera (especially bees ), for whom the crabapple is a nectar and pollen donor of particular value. The fruit contains the anthocyanin glycoside idaein (from cyanidin and galactose ), the apple seeds are slightly toxic due to the amygdalin they contain . The crab apple is a shallow root.

Distribution and locations

The natural distribution area of ​​the crab apple is probably Europe to the Middle East , whereby the southern and eastern borders of its distribution area cannot be determined with certainty. The lowland areas of Central Europe are considered to be the main distribution area . In the Alps , the crab apple occurs up to a height of 1100 m above sea ​​level . It is a light and warmth-loving species that needs sunny and free ground surfaces for germination.

The crab apple grows very scattered in alluvial forests , on stone bars , in hedges and bushes on fresh, nutrient-rich and base-rich, mostly deep clay or stone soil in a humid-mild climate. According to Ellenberg , it is a half-light plant, a freshness pointer, a weak acid and weak base pointer, growing on moderately nitrogen-rich locations and a class character of the summer deciduous forests and bushes (Querco-Fagetea).

The crab apple in the context of grazing and forest management

With the clearing of the forests by cattle farming since the Neolithic Age , the crabapple increased in Central Europe, as investigations during excavations and pollen diagrams showed, as the landscape resembled a hat forest over a large area . Because of its high regenerative power, the ability to form cane rashes from the base of the trunk, the tendency to rejuvenate from root saplings and its pointed, thorn-like short shoots, the crabapple was able to establish and assert itself well under the influence of grazing . The cattle also spread seed kernels by eating the apples and spreading them through the dung, and crossing an intestinal passage has a germ-promoting effect on the kernel of the crab apple. Seeds that are spread by cattle benefit from several months of rest in the decomposing manure, which provides a suitable germination bed, which is also spared from grazing for some time. From the middle of the 18th century, the Waldhude was more and more abandoned, and so cattle were no longer used as a constant seed distributor via the dung. The degree of vegetation cover has generally become denser since the 1960s and worsened the conditions for successful rejuvenation of the crabapple more and more, since crabapples in the germination and youth phase need a soil that warms up quickly and an environment with little competition.

The crabapple benefits to a great extent from grazing or is even dependent on it for successful regeneration, so in the sense of the megaherbivore hypothesis , it could represent a species whose presence in Central Europe is not only a relic of the Hudewaldry of past centuries, but even an indication of an open forest pasture could be interpreted as natural vegetation in parts of Central Europe even before the onset of human influence.

Inventory and inventory development

On behalf of the German Federal Agency for Agriculture and Food (BLE) , the occurrence of ten rare native tree species in German forests was determined as part of the project recording and documenting genetic resources of rare tree species in Germany from 2010 to 2013 . The recording of the BLE for crab apples in Germany found that 92 percent of the occurrences are threatened or dying due to isolation, aging and lack of natural regeneration, the conservation status of only 5 occurrences was rated as "very good" and "good" d. H. classified as vital and with sufficient natural regeneration, 15 stocks were considered "weakened", 200 as "threatened" and 27 as "dying". Hybridizations with cultivated apples also increase the threat and also make it difficult to identify pure-bred occurrences, as there are no crossing barriers.

Differentiation from other species

Malus sylvestris is a presumed stem form of the cultivated apple ( Malus domestica ), whereby a cross with Malus praecox and / or Malus dasyphylia appears possible. More recent genetic engineering studies, on the other hand, indicate a descent from the Asian wild apple ( Malus sieversii ).

The leaves and fruits can be distinguished from the cultivated apple : In contrast to the cultivated apple, the underside of the leaves of the crab apple has little or no hair. The crab apple has very small, often wrinkled fruits that are less than 4 cm in diameter. The fruits ripen from September onwards have a very sour to bitter taste, which is due to the high content of tannins . Further characteristics of the fruit are the very small core and the shallow stem and calyx pits. An important distinguishing feature between wild apples and feral cultivated apples is the position of the sepals; the wild apple has relatively narrow, long sepals that all stand together. In the case of overgrown cultivated apples, which are otherwise indistinguishable from wild apples, at least one sepal is turned over.

Meaning and use

Crab apples were used in Central Europe as early as the Neolithic . The fruits can be eaten dried or cooked and were cut and added to the crab apple beer in the 17th century. Since the spread of the cultivated apple, the crab apple no longer has any economic importance. In addition to pine cones, crab apples are also used artistically in flower arrangements. In the Swabian Alb area, the tart crab apples are added in small quantities to high-quality apple juices as a special flavor.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Waldemar Ternes , Alfred Täufel, Lieselotte Tunger, Martin Zobel (eds.): Food Lexicon . 4th, comprehensively revised edition. Behr, Hamburg 2005, ISBN 3-89947-165-2 , pp. 803 .
  2. ↑ Tree of the Year
  3. ^ Erich Oberdorfer : Plant-sociological excursion flora for Germany and neighboring areas . 8th edition. Verlag Eugen Ulmer, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-8001-3131-5 . Page 503.
  4. ↑ a b c Ulrike Hoffmann: Wild apples in the field of tension between human economic activity . Nature in NRW 2/2018: 17-21.
  5. ↑ "Recording and documentation of genetic resources of rare and endangered tree species in Germany", part 2: Wild apple (Malus sylvestris) and wild pear (Pyrus pyraster)
  6. ↑ Thomas Gleinser: Anna von Diesbach's Bernese 'Pharmacopoeia' in the Erlacher version of Daniel von Werdts (1658), Part II: Glossary. (Medical dissertation Würzburg), now at Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 1989 (= Würzburg medical-historical research , 46), p. 152.

Web links

Commons : Crab Apple ( Malus sylvestris )  - Collection of images, videos and audio files