There are more than 7,500 known cultivars of apples, resulting in a range of desired characteristics. Generally apple cultivars are propagated by grafting onto rootstocks, which control the size of the resulting tree.

Apples have religious and mythological significance in many cultures, including Norse, Greek and European Christian traditions.Īpple trees are large if grown from seed. Apples have been grown for thousands of years in Asia and Europe, and were brought to North America by European colonists. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, Malus sieversii, is still found today. It is cultivated worldwide as a fruit tree, and is the most widely grown species in the genus Malus. The apple tree (Malus pumila, commonly and erroneously called Malus domestica) is a deciduous tree in the rose family best known for its sweet, pomaceous fruit, the apple.