Malus pumila Mill.
Apple, paradise apple
Although Malus sylvestris is believed to be the first cultivated apple species, this species, M. pumila, is the best known of the “wild” apples. Many cultivars exist.
Plants: Trees are 6½–33′ (2–10 m) tall, with short crooked trunks 1–2½′ (30–76 cm) in diameter and a rounded crown of gnarly branches. Bark is thin and reddish to dark gray, ridged or plated, and peels easily.
Leaves: Alternate, simple (not lobed), 1¾–3½ ⨉ 1¼–2″ (5–9 ⨉ 3.5–6 cm). Leaves are more or less lanceolate, with fine serrations or crenations. They are hairy when young, dark olive-green above, and paler below. Their petioles are ⅜–1¼″ (1–3.5 cm) long. Leaf bases are rounded, while tips may be blunt or pointed.
Flowers: Small umbels or corymbs of fragrant flowers. Flowers are 1–1½″ (3–4 cm) around, with five pinkish or white rounded petals, five small sepals, and about 20 stamens with yellow anthers. Each flower’s pedicel is ⅜–⅞″ (1–2.5 cm) long. Flowers appear from April to May.
Fruits: Fertile flowers become small green pomes that mature over the summer to red or greenish red (rarely yellow) apples up to 4″ (10 cm) around. Skins typically have a waxy bloom. Seeds are light brown.
Habitats: Anthropogenic (human-disturbed habitats), forest edges, roadsides, meadows and fields, at elevations below 5249′ (1.6 km).
Edibility: Apples have been cultivated since Roman times, prized for their taste and hardiness.
Online References:
9/19/2009 · Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor, Maine · ≈ 11 × 7″ (27 × 18 cm) 
ID is uncertain 
7/25/2025 · River Point Conservation Area, Falmouth, Maine · ≈ 5 × 3″ (12 × 8.5 cm) 
5/28/2023 · Giant’s Stairs, Bailey Island, Maine 
7/25/2025 · River Point Conservation Area, Falmouth, Maine · ≈ 5 × 3½″ (13 × 9.6 cm) 
5/28/2023 · Giant’s Stairs, Bailey Island, Maine 
5/28/2023 · Giant’s Stairs, Bailey Island, Maine 
8/20/2025 · Peaks Island, Maine · ≈ 3 × 2′ (96 × 64 cm) 
5/28/2023 · Giant’s Stairs, Bailey Island, Maine 
9/19/2009 · Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor, Maine · ≈ 17 × 12″ (44 × 29 cm) ID is uncertain 
7/26/2025 · River Point Conservation Area, Falmouth, Maine · ≈ 8 × 6″ (19 × 15 cm) 
9/19/2009 · Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor, Maine · ≈ 4½ × 3″ (11 × 7.9 cm) ID is uncertain 
7/25/2025 · River Point Conservation Area, Falmouth, Maine · ≈ 6 × 4″ (15 × 10 cm) 
9/19/2009 · Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor, Maine ID is uncertain 
9/19/2009 · Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor, Maine · ≈ 1½ × 1′ (52 × 34 cm) ID is uncertain 
9/19/2009 · Acadia National Park, Bar Harbor, Maine · ≈ 4½ × 3″ (11 × 7.9 cm) ID is uncertain 
| Kingdom | Plantae | Plants, but not fungi, lichens, or algae (from Stearn's Botanical Latin) |
| Subkingdom | Tracheobionta | Vascular plants—plants with a “circulatory system” for delivering water and nutrients |
| Division | Magnoliophyta | Flowering plants, also known as angiosperms |
| Class | Magnoliopsida | Dicotyledons—plants with two initial seed leaves |
| Subclass | Rosidae | Roses, legumes, proteas, dogwoods, hydrangeas, mistletoes, euphorbias, grapes, many more |
| Order | Rosales | Rose family and eight others |
| Family | Rosaceae | Includes apples, apricots, plums, cherries, peaches, pears, raspberries, strawberries, almonds, roses, meadowsweets, photinias, firethorns, rowans, and hawthorns; many others |
| Genus | Malus | A classical name for the apple |
| Species | pumila | Dwarf |
Malus pumila description by Thomas H. Kent, not updated.
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