Malus sieversii

Malus sieversii
Conservation status
Vulnerable  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Rosales
Family:	Rosaceae
Genus:	Malus
Species:	M. sieversii
Binomial name
Malus sieversii (Ledeb.) M.Roem.
Synonyms[2][3][4]
Malus turkmenorum Juz. & Popov Pyrus sieversii Ledeb. (basionym)

Malus sieversii is a wild apple native to the mountains of Central Asia in southern Kazakhstan. It has recently been shown to be the primary ancestor of most cultivars of the domesticated apple (Malus domestica). It was first described as Pyrus sieversii due to its similarities with pears in 1833 by Carl Friedrich von Ledebour, a German naturalist who saw them growing in the Altai Mountains.^[5]

Malus sieversii grows in many different habitats.^[5] They prefer high temperatures and short winters, but they are also found in the Tian Shan Mountains with long and harsh winters.^[5] They are distributed mainly within the Yili valley as the damp climate is suitable for their growth.^[6][7]

It is a deciduous tree growing 5 to 12 metres (16 to 39 ft), very similar in appearance to the domestic apple. Its pollen grains vary in size and are seen to be ovular when dry and spherical when swelled with water.^[7] Its fruit is the largest of any species of Malus except domestica, up to 7 cm in diameter, equal in size to many modern apple cultivars. Unlike domesticated varieties, its leaves go red in autumn: 62% of the trees in the wild do this compared to only 2.8% of the regular apple plant or the 2,170 English cultivated varieties.^[8] The species is now considered vulnerable to extinction.