Identification help please - Apples?

[Ozforager]

Hi all, I came across a tree on my wild walk the other day covered in what looked like bright red cherries from a distance but upon closer inspection I think they are little apples. I’m attaching 3 photos (see links below). If anyone can help identify, I’d be most grateful. Also keen to know if I can eat them!

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[C_Claycomb]

Sorry, photos do not display. Not even if I try to follow the link.

Having had a couple of similar questions recently, I can recommend Collins British Tree Guide. It won't tell you whether you can eat stuff, but it is good for identifying what it is that you are looking at. Books about forage won't be so good for identifying whether what you find is one thing or something similar, they tend to assume that you have made the identification.

 

[punkrockcaveman]

I've seen something similar myself. I think they are some kind of ornamental crab apple.

 

[Broch]

In the UK crab apples can vary from fruit about 1.5cm diameter to 3cm or more; it can be red to yellow/green; it can be so sour you spit it out or just sweet enough to eat - apples hybridise so eagerly it's very hard to tell exactly how close to a true Malus sylvestris you are. Ms which is generally agreed to carry yellow/green fruit up to 3cm diameter and be very bitter.

But, as Chris says, your photos aren't displaying and the link doesn't work so we're just guessing

 

[Coldfeet]

I agree with everything said thus far. It's hard to ID specific varieties, but it's likely to be a Crab Apple of some kind or other.

 

[Ozforager]

Hi everyone. Sorry the photos didn't work but thank you all for your helpful comments. Definitely sounds like a crab apple. I'm trying the photo links again. Do you think these are edible? Cheers.

IMG-0487 hosted at ImgBB

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IMG-0488 hosted at ImgBB

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IMG-0489 hosted at ImgBB

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[C_Claycomb]

Look like a crab apple, in which case they are edible, but may not be palatable raw. You should be able to do something with them, cooking or turning into jelly, even if you don't like them raw.

For future reference, when taking identification photos it is useful to have something recognisable in shot for scale, and with plants, the more parts of the plant that can be recorded and presented, the better. My mum has taken literally thousands of reference shots, volunteering in an arboretum where there are a number of interesting or just strange crab apples.

They look good.

Chris

 

[Broch]

They look like a crab hybrid and, yes, they're edible. Whether they taste OK is something you'll have to tell us

 

[Ozforager]

Look like a crab apple, in which case they are edible, but may not be palatable raw. You should be able to do something with them, cooking or turning into jelly, even if you don't like them raw.

For future reference, when taking identification photos it is useful to have something recognisable in shot for scale, and with plants, the more parts of the plant that can be recorded and presented, the better. My mum has taken literally thousands of reference shots, volunteering in an arboretum where there are a number of interesting or just strange crab apples.

They look good.

Chris

Thanks so much Chris. Will cut one open and see what they are like. If sour, I'll do as you suggest and make a jelly. Also thanks for the advise about taking photos for identification. Will remember to take photos on the tree next time.

 

[Ozforager]

They look like a crab hybrid and, yes, they're edible. Whether they taste OK is something you'll have to tell us

Thanks Broch. Glad to hear they are edible. Haha will brave it and have a little nibble on one tonight

 

[Robson Valley]

We stew them to be canned with cinnamon. The best are varieties of Malus baccata.
One is just always called "jelly crab."
The genetic history of apples along the Silk Road has been established.

 

[Broch]

The genetic history of apples along the Silk Road has been established.

Yep, the genetic make up of the 'eating' apple and the story of how it got to Europe and beyond is fascinating. I think I remember that modern domestic apple contains nearly 50% of the DNA from Malus sieversii (native to Kazakhstan), while 20 percent comes from the European crab apple, Malus sylvestris - the native crab apple of the UK and Europe. Even the browsing animals wait until they have started rotting on the floor before trying to eat them - yet for some inexplicable reason my Spaniel will chew on them

 

[Robson Valley]

There's a native crab apple species on the south coast here, Malus pacifica.
Yellow when ripe, maybe 3cm diameter. Also found in some dry paleo food caches.
Not all that many years ago, the international part of YVR expanded with a huge new terminal and runway.
Arm to arm, people walked the entire property for anything unusual at all, plant or animal.

They discovered a grove of Pacifica crab apple trees, planted in rows, no less.
Subsequently dug up with tree spades and entirely transplanted to a safe area.

I can still recall the taste of my grandmother's canned crab apples, just brown with cinnamon.
Everybody but me thought that was wonderful.

 

[aris]

try the PlantNet app. Snap a picture of a leaf, fruit, flower, or bark, and it uses AI to try to identify the plant by comparing to a database of known plant images. Quite nifty.

 

[Nice65]

Like many fruits, edible but not very good.

There is a tree called the Strawberry Tree. It’s non native but was widely planted in coastal areas in southern England. It’s Latin name is Arbutus unedo, which means:

“The species name 'unedo' is attributed to Pliny the Elder who said of the fruit “Unum Tantum Edo” (Latin) meaning “I eat only one”. ...”

Sloes, Rowan, Hawthorn, and Crabapples are in this category. Oh, and Medlar.

With some preparation they can be good. Crabapples have loads of pectin and make a lovely jelly for cold pork, or even just on toast.

 

[Robson Valley]

The one we call the "jelly crab" has been planted prolifically all over western Canada.
Spread a tarp under the tree and strip it. That crab jelly has a reputation.
Forget the toast in the morning, OK? Just sit there with the jelly jar and a spoon.
Every kid over the age of 50 needs to do that at least once when nobody is looking.

 

[Robson Valley]

Here's the link to the apple genetic history story. More than a thousand years ago.
Everybody inBCUK needs to read this to appreciate one of our best resources.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/08/170815095041.htm

 

[Nice65]

Here's the link to the apple genetic history story. More than a thousand years ago.
Everybody inBCUK needs to read this to appreciate one of our best resources.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/08/170815095041.htm

Thank you Bri, excellent resource.

 

[Robson Valley]

I am revealed? I've wanted to dump the RV moniker for years.

 

[Nice65]

The one we call the "jelly crab" has been planted prolifically all over western Canada.
Spread a tarp under the tree and strip it. That crab jelly has a reputation.
Forget the toast in the morning, OK? Just sit there with the jelly jar and a spoon.
Every kid over the age of 50 needs to do that at least once when nobody is looking.

Oh yes. Granny Heaseman (not actually our granny, but that’s what we called her) used to live across the road from us in her thatched cottage with crabapple trees in the front and made pots and pots of crabapple, and rose hip jelly every year. She’d give my sister and I a little half size jar for us to do just that. Fragrant, perfumed apple jelly, it was a great treat.

My dad still makes Thyme and apple jelly every year and applies it old school sweet tooth to pork or chicken in any form. Liberally.