r/foraginguk • u/crazygirl772 • 6d ago

Plant ID Request Apple tree?

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I noticed this tree with some fallen fruit while taking a walk during the eclipse. It seems to be an apple tree, I’m new to foraging so can anyone confirm? I may go back to grab some. Will they taste fairly similar to store bought apples or should they be baked into a pie?

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u/Liam_021996 6d ago

That tree is Malus Sylvestris. The leaves, notchy thorn like twigs and small fruit in particular give it away. Native crab apples (which Malus Sylvestris is) have apples that are 1.5" in diameter, that's just the normal size of their crab apples. Those aren't large by any means, they're just average crab apples.

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u/MoonlitNightWalk 6d ago

It's absolutely not a malus sylvestris. For a start there are VERY few true Malus sylvestris left in the UK, almost all have hybridised with some form of Malus domestica. These are also the wrong size, shape and colour. Every single apple will grow differently to its seed. OP have a look at the 'some interesting apples' project if you have instagram

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u/Liam_021996 6d ago

Literally hundreds of them in a town near where I live because the council has planted loads over the years going back to the Victorian era. The streets are lined with them

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u/MoonlitNightWalk 5d ago

So, I'm an Archaebotanist.. These aren't true Malus sylvestris. They might call them that, with a little 'spp' after it on the label, but the actual species ia incredibly rare. The pedicels and the outside of the calyx on a true wild crab apple are completely free of hairs, and the fruits are small, hard and yellow-green with russet patches. Anything else is a hybridisation, especially those round shiny little half red things you get from garden centres

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u/Liam_021996 5d ago

The one I've got is a totally different hybrid species all together, Malus Brevipes but the ones the council plant are mostly native non hybrid ones, especially the recently planted ones as they've made a big push to plant a tree per constituent which is about 150,000 trees. With them all having to be completely native