How did the origin and spread of Malus develop?

The exact time of the origin of Malus has not yet been determined, and its origin center varies from researcher to researcher. In the textual research of cultivated plants, De Cantor believes that apple is a deciduous fruit tree native to the Old World, with a cultivation history of more than 3,000 years. It originated in southeast Europe, West Asia and even Iran. Another theory is that carbonized apples were found in the remains of prehistoric Swiss lake dwellers, which indicates that the origin of apples may be in Central Europe and West Asia. Vavilov believed that apple originated in China, Central Asia and the Near East-Asia Minor. Zhukowski and Zhai Wen pointed out in their Dictionary of Cultivated Plants and Their Differentiation Centers that China-Japan, Central Asia, West Asia, Europe-Siberia and North America are the origin centers of Malus. There is no doubt that China is one of the main origin centers of Malus. From 65438 to 0956, Yu Dexun and Yan Zhenlong, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, made further research on Malus plants originating in China. In their article Malus plants in China, they pointed out that there are about 35 species of Malus plants in the world, and 23 species originated in China. In 1983, Cheng He and Jiang Ninggong reported that a new species of Malus, Xiaojin Apple, was discovered in Sichuan, China, bringing the original species of Malus to 24 in China. Li 1990, Department of Horticulture, Southwest Agricultural University, pointed out that there are 24 species of Malus native to China, but there are 37-60 species of Malus in the world. Li also pointed out that the original species of Malus are distributed in different countries and regions of the world, forming polygenic centers of the origin of Malus.

spread

(1) China

According to ancient agricultural documents, as early as 1400 years ago, China began to grow apples in popularity. Guang Zhi (Guo of Jin Dynasty, 3rd century) recorded: "There are three kinds of white, green and red, Zhangye (now Gansu) has white, Jiuquan has red, and there are many in the west. Many people think that it is preserved, and hundreds of them are accumulated, such as collecting dates and chestnuts. ..... called' frequency Shiva cuisine' ... ". From this point of view, Hexi Corridor in Gansu Province, China has become the cultivation center of cotton and apples. After spreading, Mian Apple has been cultivated in Hebei (Huailai), Yanggao, Shanxi, Lanzhou, Gansu, Wuwei and other places.

Western apples or big apples, commonly known as apples, have a short cultivation history in China, only over one hundred years. Yantai is the earliest in China. About 187 1 years ago, with the invasion of capitalist culture, American missionaries introduced apple seedlings and then cultivated them by the local poor, so Yantai became one of the main apple producing areas in China. At first, the varieties introduced from Yantai included concubine and Hua Fu beer. , and then introduced green bananas, Japanese brocade, marshal and other varieties.

The history of cultivating big apples in Qingdao is also earlier, around 1898, which was introduced by Germany and Japan after German and Japanese imperialism occupied Qingdao. The first introduced varieties are: red sunflower, Huang Kui, hibiscus skin, etc. Then Guoguang, Hongyu, Rijin, Green Banana, etc. , Red Star, Golden Crown and other varieties were introduced from America in 1933.

The cultivation of "Big Apple" was introduced by Japan and Korea191years ago, that is, after Japanese imperialism occupied most of our country. Mainly in Guoguang, followed by Hongyu, Rijin, Zhu, Xu, Qingjiao and Jinguan.

Xinjiang Big Apple was introduced from Russia around 1909.

China southern apple was first cultivated in Batang, Sichuan, about 1904. It was introduced by American missionaries. 1923 introduced a large number of varieties from the United States, such as Jinguan, Yuan Shuai, Dante, etc. Around Kunming, Yunnan 1926, big apples were introduced from France for cultivation. Tibet introduced big apples from England. In other places, mostly in the 1930s or 40s of the 20th century, a small amount of apples were introduced for planting.

(2) Europe

Apple is one of the oldest cultivated fruit trees in Europe. Many carbonized apple fruits were found in the remains of European countries in the Stone Age. According to the unearthed materials, there were at least two kinds of apples with different sizes at that time. The longitudinal diameter of large fruit type is 29-32 mm, and the transverse diameter is 36mm；; The longitudinal diameter of small fruit type is 15-24 mm and the transverse diameter is about 30 mm, which is roughly similar to the semi-wild small apple in modern Europe in terms of fruit size.

By the time of ancient Greece and Rome, apple cultivation techniques had been quite developed. The Greek philosopher Theophrastus once recorded the difference between wild and cultivated apple varieties, as well as the grafting propagation and cultivation methods. Prin of Rome recorded dozens of apple varieties in his famous natural history.

But until16th century, apples cultivated in Europe were small fruits. That is, from the16th century, raw apple varieties rose and developed in Britain and other places, which became the beginning of modern big apple cultivation. British gardener Knight (1759— 1838) is the father of modern apples. He first began to improve apple varieties through hybridization, which also made fruit tree breeding really based on science.

The early cultivation and improvement of apples were mainly carried out in northern Central Europe, especially in the Anglo-Saxons. Until the middle of19th century, the number of apples produced in Britain ranked first in Europe in terms of both yield and quantity. /kloc-In the 9th century, the United States cultivated delicious modern big apples and returned to Europe, which further promoted the development of European apples.

(3) America

The history of planting apples in the United States is about 300 years, which was first introduced by immigrants from Britain and the Netherlands. The main cultivation purpose at that time was to provide raw materials for brewing. It was not until the second half of19th century that the apple industry began to develop gradually with the appearance of new varieties and the improvement of cultivation techniques. In the 20th century, new cultivation centers appeared in western Oregon and Washington, making American apples among the best in the world today.

(4) Japan

Japanese persimmon trees and trees were introduced to China around the 5th century A.D./KLOC-0, and it was not until the Tokugawa period (1603- 1867) that they became popular for cultivation. After Meiji Restoration, 1869 introduced 75 varieties of western apples. They were first planted and propagated in Tokyo Palace, and then gradually became popular. By the 1970s, more than 700 kinds of western apples had been introduced from European and American countries. After 1937, the breeding of apple varieties began, and many famous varieties have been cultivated.

As can be seen from the above, the origin period and origin center of Malus are not clear. Therefore, the transmission route of Malus varies from author to author, and sometimes even the opposite transmission route appears. In the book Origin and Spread of Cultivated Plants published by 1978, Japanese scholars believe that there are two main ways of origin and spread of Malus. One is begonia asiatica, which originated in China and was introduced to Japan and other places via China. The other is Malus, which originated in South Caucasus and Asia Minor and spread to Europe due to the changes of ancient nationalities. After continuous cultivation and improvement, it gradually developed into a modern western apple (Malus pumlla). Western apples were introduced to China through the Western Regions in the 6th century. These two main origin centers and their transmission routes are shown in Figure 3- 1- 1.

Fig. 3- 1- 1 Origin and spread map of apple plants

(Quoted from Qin Xing, Qing Chuan, translated by Duan Chuande, Origin and Spread of Cultivated Plants, Henan Science and Technology Press)

Professor Li from the Horticulture Department of Southwest Agricultural University pointed out in 65438-0990 that polygenic centers of Malus origin have been formed in different countries and regions in the world, but the sequence of the formation of these polygenic centers is debatable. In many gene centers of Malus in the world, the proportion of polyploid species has increased from Asia to Europe to North America. Because polyploid has stronger adaptability and plasticity than diploid, polyploid is often the first to invade new fields in the process of evolution. Therefore, Professor Li believes that the spread of Malus has a tendency to spread from Asia to Europe and Japan, and then to North America, and finally formed the status quo of multi-gene centers of Malus.