The World of Apples

Wild apples

Malus indica (Wall.) B.B.Liu

Description

Malus indica is a semi-evergreen or deciduous tree; the Flora of China gives its height as 2 to 3 m. Its leaves are elliptic to oblong-lanceolate, 3.5–8 cm long, firm and glossy above, with shallowly scalloped margins. The white flowers, about 2.5 cm across, come in clusters of three to five and have about 30 stamens. The fruit is yellow, roundish or ellipsoid and 2–3 cm across, crowned by erect sepals. In China it flowers in March and April and fruits in August and September1.

Range and habitat

It grows on slopes, beside streams and in thickets at 2,000–3,000 m1. In China it is found in south-western Sichuan and north-eastern Yunnan1, and beyond China in Nepal, Sikkim, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam1,3,4.

History

Wallich described it in 1831 as Pyrus indica; Spach moved it to Cydonia in 1834, and Decaisne to Docynia in 18743. Wallich’s original illustration is the type of the name, but it shows too little detail to separate the species from close relatives such as Malus delavayi and Malus longiunguis, so in 2023 a specimen collected by J. D. Hooker and T. Thomson in “Khasia”, India, was chosen to fix its application3.

Relationship to the cultivated apple

Docynia, a small Asian genus of evergreen and semi-evergreen trees, has been kept apart from the apples because its ovaries have three to ten ovules in each compartment, against two in Malus2,3. A 2023 study found Docynia nested within Malus on DNA evidence and moved this species into Malus3.

Where the sources disagree

  • Which genus. The Flora of China (2003) keeps it in Docynia1; Plants of the World Online follows the 2023 study in placing it in Malus3,4.
  • Pakistan. The Flora of China and the 2023 study include Pakistan in its range1,3; Plants of the World Online does not4.

Sources

  1. Docynia indica, Flora of China vol. 9, Gu Cuizhi and Stephen A. Spongberg, Flora of China, eFloras.org, 2003. Supports: the description (semi-evergreen or deciduous trees to 2–3 m, leaves elliptic or oblong-lanceolate, 3.5–8 cm, firmly papery, lustrous above, margin shallowly crenate, flowers in clusters of 3–5, about 2.5 cm, petals white, stamens about 30, pome yellow, subglobose or ellipsoid, 2–3 cm, sepals persistent and erect, flowering March–April and fruiting August–September); slopes, stream sides and thickets at 2,000–3,000 m in SW Sichuan and NE Yunnan, and Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sikkim, Thailand and Vietnam; basionym Pyrus indica Wallich (1831); Docynia indica (Wallich) Decaisne (1874).
  2. Docynia, Flora of China vol. 9, Gu Cuizhi and Stephen A. Spongberg, Flora of China, eFloras.org, 2003. Supports: Docynia as evergreen or semi-evergreen trees with 3–10 ovules per locule; about five species in Asia.
  3. Malus includes Docynia (Maleae, Rosaceae): evidence from phylogenomics and morphology, Guang-Ning Liu and others, PhytoKeys 229: 47–60, 2023. Supports: Docynia separated by 3–10 ovules per locule; Docynia found nested within Malus and merged into it, with three species; the new combination Malus indica (Wall.) B.B.Liu; Pyrus indica Wall. (1831), Cydonia indica (Spach, 1834) and Docynia indica (Decaisne, 1874); Wallich's illustration as the holotype and an epitype chosen from J. D. Hooker and T. Thomson's collection 510 from "Khasia", India, because the illustration shows too little detail to separate the species from its closest relatives, Malus delavayi and Malus longiunguis; distribution Bhutan, China (Sichuan, Yunnan), India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sikkim, Thailand and Vietnam.
  4. Malus indica (Wall.) B.B.Liu, Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Supports: accepted name and authority, published 2023; native range "Nepal to SC. China and Indo-China" (Assam, south-central China, eastern Himalaya, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, Vietnam); Docynia indica and Docynia griffithiana among the synonyms.