Malus turkmenorum Juz. & Popov

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Credits

Julian Sutton (species), Nick Dunn (cultivars) (2021)

Recommended citation
Sutton, J. & Dunn, N. (2021), 'Malus turkmenorum' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/malus/malus-turkmenorum/). Accessed 2024-03-29.

Genus

Synonyms

  • Malus sieversii var. turkmenorum (Juz. & Popov) Ponomar.
  • Malus sieversii subsp. turkmenorum (Juz. & Popov) Likhonos
  • Malus orientalis subsp. turkmenorum (Juz. & Popov) V.T.Langenfeld
  • Pyrus turkmenorum (Juz. & Popov) M.F.Fay & Christenh.

Glossary

germplasm
Seed.
USDA
United States Department of Agriculture.

Credits

Julian Sutton (species), Nick Dunn (cultivars) (2021)

Recommended citation
Sutton, J. & Dunn, N. (2021), 'Malus turkmenorum' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.org/articles/malus/malus-turkmenorum/). Accessed 2024-03-29.

Differs from typical M. sieversii in its shrubby habit, to 3 m tall, smaller leaves (to 8 × 4 cm), smaller flowers (2.5–3 cm diameter) and smaller fruits (~2.5 cm diameter). (Yuzepchuk 1971).

Distribution  Afghanistan north west Turkmenistan Kopet Dag

Habitat Mountain slopes and gorges (Kopet Dag).

USDA Hardiness Zone 5-8

RHS Hardiness Rating H4

Conservation status Not evaluated (NE)

This little known shrubby apple is very dubiously distinct from M. sieversii at the species level, although accepted by some (e.g. Juniper & Mabberley 2019). It was first described from the Kopet Dag, a mountain range on the border between Turkmenistan and Iran, which has a more or less Mediterranean climate but rises out of saline desert with a strongly continental climate to the north. Probably of little value as an ornamental, and with small ‘tasteless’ fruits (Yuzepchuk 1971) any value in cultivation is probably in rootstock breeding, due to its drought- and salt-tolerance (Hanelt 2001; Yuzepchuk 1971). The only record of its cultivation in our area is at the US National Clonal Germplasm Repository, Geneva, NY, seed-raised from a Russian research institute; fruits appear rather larger than described, about 4.5 cm diameter (USDA/ARS, National Genetic Resources Program 2020).