Malus domestica; 'Apple'

There are around 25 species of Malus in the northern temperate region, and are generally planted for the fruit which these trees yield, grown in fields known as orchards.

The branches become tangled unless pruned, leaves can grow up to 13cm long, they are rounded near the stem and curve towards a slight point at the tip. Another thing apples are famous for is there white and pink blossom which is very attractive when travelling past an orchard with trees full of fresh blossom.

These trees are often plagued by Mistletoe, with many trees whole canopies covered. This doesn’t seem to bother the trees as they still happily produce trees full of apples every year.

As I was in Normandy, there was an abundance of Orchards as Normandy is famous for its cider and calvados. The orchards which I generally found were small plots of land with from 10-20 trees spaced evenly apart in a mown field.  When the apples are ripe there is a huge rush to pick and stop the animals eating the produce. When I was much younger there used to be a mobile distillery which came to help the local farmers create calvados, I haven’t seen this machine for years as I suppose that is incredibly illegal now.