Malus sylvestris (L.) Mill. s.s., Crab Apple

Account Summary

Variation and identification problem

Stace (1997) believes that the native Crab Apple is much over-recorded for M. domestica, the Cultivated Apple. At first sight the two taxa should not be hard to distinguish, M. sylvestris s.s. having glabrous mature leaves, pedicels and outer calyx surface, while the corresponding parts of M. domestica are pubescently hairy. Of course Real Life and Nature are never as simple as we continually like to believe. Plants of M. domestica are regularly found with leaves hairy only on the veins beneath, clearly intermediate between the two taxa in this respect (Webb et al. 1996).

Large numbers of cultivars of both these apples exist, representing a vast amount of variation but, of course, particularly so in the Cultivated Apple. The intermediate forms regularly found might be hybrids, or as Stace (1997) hints, these two apple species may never have been all that specifically distinct. Extensive genetic analysis of old apple cultivars by Robinson et al. (2001) concluded that, "hybridisation, lineage sorting, recent evolution and the spread of 'cultigens' and associated weeds by humans have disrupted formerly distinct [apple] taxa and habitats". The same authors also said, "Morphological characters used to delimit species and subspecies in series Malus are continuous and overlapping."

Fermanagh occurrence

Crab Apple is one of the very first plants ever recorded in Fermanagh, being written about by Rev William Henry in an early descriptive travel account of Upper Lough Erne published in 1739. This work refers to the plant as, "crabbes" (in facsimile: Henry et al. 1987). Today, this small tree is uncommon and occasional in lakeshore woods, hedgerows and scrub, especially around the larger lakes, eg both parts of Lough Erne, plus Lough Melvin. It is very scarce and scattered elsewhere in the VC, although there appears to be some linkage with large estates, eg Castle Caldwell, Crom Castle and Colebrooke Park, which might suggest a certain degree of planted introduction. The larger estates and the wooded islands belonging to them are the most likely places for scraps of ancient woodland to survive, and it is believed that real, wild Crab Apples are confined to these old shades (Brewis et al. 1996). In Fermanagh, there are records of Crab Apple from 25 tetrads (4.7% of those in the VC), although only 17 of them have post-75 dates.

British and Irish occurrence

Recognising the identification problem and this latter possibility, the New Atlas editors combined all the apple records into one hectad map as Malus sylvestris s.l. The distribution of this entity thins northwards in Britain and, rather more patchily, westwards in Ireland. It is a little reassuring that in Fermanagh there are 44 indeterminate apple records which are also listed as this taxon.

Threats

None.

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