Apple

An old proverb is "An apple a day keeps the doctor away".  This could be the reason why apples are among the most popular fruits in the world.

Here is some basic information on apple, some apple related proverbs and quotes and some photos.

This page is about "real apples" (Malus domestica), which grow in temperate climates, but the word apple has also been incorporated in the names of many tropical fruits (e.g. custard apple, pineapple, rose apple, star apple) which are not related.

Basic information on apple

Scientific name:	Malus domestica
Family:	Rosaceae
Order:	Rosales
Common names:	English: Apple Dutch: Appel Spanish: Manzana German: Apfel French: Pomme Italian: Mela
Origin:	Kazakhstan
Distribution:	Widely distributed in regions with a temperate or subtropical climate.
Evergreen or deciduous:	Deciduous
Flowers:
Leaves:	Simple oval leaves are 5 to 12 cm long and 3 to 6 cm broad. The petiole is 2 to 5 cm long.
Fruits:
Climate and weather:	Temperate and subtropical climate
Pollination:	Apples must cross-pollinate to develop fruit. Pollination by insects such as honeybees and bumble bees.
Height:	5 to 12 meter
Blooming period	Flowers in springtime at the same time when leaves are budding.
Type of soil:
Growth rate:
Spacing (close range)
Spacing (wide range)
Propagation:	Usually by grafting.
Insect pests:
Diseases:
Fruit development:
Harvesting:	Hand picking when fruits are ripe. If kept in a dark cool place, apples can be stored for several weeks or even months.
Uses:	Eaten fresh or in fruit salads. Also mixed in vegetable salads. Used as filling in cakes and pies. Used to make applesauce.

Photos

Proverbs

• An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
• The apple cannot be stuck back on the tree of knowledge.
• You can't compare apples with pears.
• "Big Apple" is the nickname for New York City ("Big Mango" is Bangkok)
• You are the apple of my eye (your cherished above all others)
• The apple does not fall far from the tree.
• When the apple is ripe it will fall.

Did you know that?

• The "forbidden fruit" was an apple.
• Snow white's apple was only half poisoned (the red side).
• The Island of Avalon literally means "Apple Island".

Quotes

• Poor Richard was to me as an eldest son, the apple of my eye. (Sir Walter Scott, in Old Mortality, 1816)
• He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; he led him about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye. (Bible, Deuteronomy 32:10, King James Version)
• For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye. (Bible, Zechariah 2:8)
• Flower of this purple dye, / Hit with Cupid's archery, / Sink in apple of his eye (Shakespeare, in A Midsummer Night's Dream, 1590)
• A goodly apple rotten at the heart: O, what a goodly outside falsehood hath. (Shakespeare)
• An apple cleft in two is not more twin / Than these two creatures (Shakespeare)
• Kent, sir—everybody knows Kent—apples, cherries, hops, and women. (Charles Dickens)
• There's small choice in rotten apples. (Shakespeare)
• If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas. (George Bernard Shaw)
• Anyone can count the seeds in an apple, but only God can count the number of apples in a seed. (Robert H. Schuller)

 

Recipes

Fried apple slices

Ingredients:
Apples (sour hard apples are best), margarine or butter, sugar

Instructions:
Peel the apples and remove the core. Slice them. Fry the slices in a bit of butter or margarine on low fire until soft and golden brown. Serve with bread. Add sugar if desired.