The origin of this commonplace fruit has long been uncertain, but David Mabberley and co-author Barrie Juniper find answers in this fascinating story. The authors use the expected DNA analysis and other traditional botanical tools of discovery, but also geology, climatology and a study of bears and horses to identify the first home (it wasn’t Eden) of the sweet apple. But they don’t stop there. They trace the process by which the apple has become a world-wide food crop, an iconic element in the culture of many peoples, and even a “determined, effective, subversive influence” that challenges the global agribusiness complex by its ability to easily new varieties, giving hope that even a small scale orchard or wild seedling could produce the next, outstanding variety.
Excerpted from the Fall 2007 Arboretum Bulletin.