The World of Apples

Wild apples

Malus komarovii (Sarg.) Rehder

Description

Malus komarovii is a shrub or small tree up to 3 m tall. Its leaves are broadly ovate, 4–8 cm long, heart-shaped at the base and doubly toothed, usually divided into three, with a lobe on each side near the base. The flowers are about 3.5 cm across with white petals; the fruit is red and oval, 1–1.5 cm long, and the sepals fall before it ripens. It flowers in May and fruits in September. It has 34 chromosomes in its body cells1.

Its heart-shaped leaf base and larger flowers distinguish it from Malus kansuensis2. It is very resistant to cold1. A study of its pollination in north-eastern China recorded 46 species of insects visiting its flowers, among them bees, flies, beetles and butterflies3.

Range and habitat

Most of its known sites are in North Korea, and its range extends across the Chinese border into the Changbai Mountains2, where it grows among shrubs at 1,100–1,300 m1. The IUCN Red List also records it in South Korea4. It is threatened by the loss and fragmentation of its habitat, though the Demilitarized Zone gives it some protection by accident2. The IUCN Red List assessed it in 2015 as Endangered, with a decreasing population, naming among its threats housing and tourism, roads and railways, logging, fire, pollution and climate change4.

History

Komarov first described it, from mossy valley woods in what is now North Korea, under the name Crataegus tenuifolia, which proved invalid2; Sargent’s name, Crataegus komarovii, became the basis of the present one1,5. Ernest Wilson collected specimens in Korea in 1917. It is virtually unknown in cultivation: the only record traced is at the United States’ apple collection at Geneva, New York, and the Eden Project in Cornwall has been trying to introduce it2. The 2022 revision of the genus accepts it as one of 26 wild species6.

Where the sources disagree

  • Henan. Plants of the World Online includes Henan in its range5; the Flora of China and the IUCN Red List give only Jilin in China1,4, and the Flora of China treats the Henan variety funiushanensis as a synonym1.
  • South Korea. The IUCN Red List includes South Korea4; the Flora of China lists only North Korea outside China1.

Sources

  1. Malus komarovii, Flora of China vol. 9, Gu Cuizhi and Stephen A. Spongberg, Flora of China, eFloras.org, 2003. Supports: the description (shrubs or small trees to 3 m, leaves 4–8 cm, cordate, doubly serrate, usually 3-parted, flowers about 3.5 cm, petals white, pome red, ellipsoid, 1–1.5 × 0.8–1 cm, sepals falling, flowering May and fruiting September, 2n = 34); among shrubs at 1,100–1,300 m in S Jilin (Changbai Shan) and North Korea; resistant to cold and endangered by habitat loss; basionym Crataegus komarovii Sargent; M. komarovii var. funiushanensis a synonym.
  2. Malus komarovii, Julian Sutton and Nick Dunn, Trees and Shrubs Online (International Dendrology Society), 2021. Supports: "perhaps the rarest wild apple species"; distinguished from M. kansuensis by its cordate leaf base and larger flowers; first described by Komarov from mossy valley woods in present-day North Korea, under an invalid name, Crataegus tenuifolia; most known sites in North Korea, extending into the Changbai Mountains; threatened by habitat fragmentation and loss, with some inadvertent protection in the Demilitarized Zone; specimens collected by Wilson in Korea in 1917; cultivated only at the Geneva repository; an attempt at the Eden Project to introduce it.
  3. Malus Mill., Julian Sutton and Nick Dunn, Trees and Shrubs Online (International Dendrology Society), 2021. Supports: a study of the pollination of M. komarovii in north-eastern China recording 46 species of insect visitors, among them bees, flies, beetles and butterflies (Feng et al. 2015).
  4. Malus komarovii, The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2016: e.T32362A13189514, L. Rhodes, N. Maxted, H. Kim, S.-W. Son and Y.-S. Kim, 2016. Supports: Endangered under criteria B2ab(iii,iv,v), assessed 10 November 2015; population decreasing; native to China (Jilin), North Korea and South Korea; forest and shrubland; threats from housing and tourism, roads and railways, logging, human disturbance, fire, pollution and climate change.
  5. Malus komarovii (Sarg.) Rehder, Plants of the World Online, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Supports: accepted name and authority, published 1920; basionym Crataegus komarovii Sarg.; native range "China (Henan, Jilin) to Korea".
  6. A revision of the genus Malus Mill. (Rosaceae), Jing-chao Li, Jian-quan Liu and Xin-fen Gao, European Journal of Taxonomy 853: 1–127, 2022. Supports: M. komarovii accepted as one of 26 wild species.