Malus florentina

Taxonomy and etymology

Taxonomic history

Malusflorentina was initially described in 1806 as a kind of hawthorn, Crataegus florentina, by the Florentine botanist Attilio Zuccagni (17541807), based on a specimen collected on Monte Cuccioli near Florence, Italy. Since then, the species has been classified in as many as eight different genera. Some authors also treated it as a subspecies of the closely related Lebanese wild apple (M.trilobata). Additionally, the species was at times considered to have originated from a hybridisation between the chequer tree (Torminalis glaberrima) and the European wild apple (M.sylvestris), a view that was still widely accepted in the early 2000s. Prominently, the Polish dendrologist held this view, and in 1970 classified the species in the nothogenus , as . While he emphasised the species' lobed leaves, this characteristic is also present in some North American and East Asian Malus species, prompting Sutton and Dunn (2021) to remark: "It is tempting to speculate that this suggestion would never have been made if the tree were native to Sichuan rather than southern Europe."

Modern taxonomy and evolution

Since then, studies have firmly placed the species within the apple genus, Malus. In particular, a 2008 review by Qian and colleagues using morphological, phytochemical and molecular evidence came to the conclusion that it is a primary species of Malus, with no indication of a hybrid origin. Accordingly, as of October 2025, Plants of the World Online includes the species in Malus. Although its exact relationship to other species in the genus is yet unclear, studies based on plastid and nuclear DNA suggest that M.florentina is closely related to M.trilobata from the eastern Mediterranean, often placing both species together on a branch that also contains the North American species prairie crabapple (M.ioensis), southern crabapple (M.angustifolia), and sweet crabapple (M.coronaria).

A phylogenetic study by Liu and colleagues (2022) showed that this branch, called Clade II, changed position within the Maleae tribe, depending on whether the phylograms used were based on nuclear or plastid DNA. Whereas Clade II was sister to all other Malus in nuclear phylogenies, plastid phylogenies positioned it next to Pourthiaea, and thus closer to other Maleae such as Sorbus and Aronia than to Malus proper. This discordance between nuclear and plastid phylogenies, the authors proposed, could be due to incomplete lineage sorting, allopolyploidy, or hybridisation, all of which were important mechanisms underlying the evolution of the Maleae. The authors proposed hybridisation as the most likely scenario, whereby the ancestor of Clade II hybridised with the ancestor of Pourthiaea, so that all its descendants, including M.florentina, inherited Pourthiaea's chloroplast DNA through a process known as chloroplast capture. On the other hand, in a 2017 study by Savelyeva and colleagues, these relationships were not supported, and two M.florentina samples did not even cluster together in one clade.

According to Liu and colleagues (2022), Malus originated in North America and East Asia, most likely in the middle Eocene, between 41.2 and 44.39 million years ago. Malus antiqua, a fossil species with lobed leaves from the Pliocene (5.33–2.58 Mya) of Europe, recovered in Romania, is thought to be ancestral to M.florentina or M.trilobata.

Traditionally, M.florentina was included in the section Sorbomalus, alongside a number of other species with lobed leaves, including M.sieboldii, M.transitoria, M.kansuensis and M.fusca, but the monophyly of this section is not supported by phylogenetic analyses. Alternatively, Qian and colleagues (2008) proposed a classification as the only species in the section Florentinae. However, in a comprehensive 2022 revision of the genus Malus, Li and colleagues argued against the use of these traditional morphological groupings, due to their generally poor conformity with relationships established through phylogenetic studies.

Etymology

Both the botanical and the common name Florentine crabapple refer to the municipality of Florence, Italy, leaf shape, which resembles that of a hawthorn (Crataegus).

Description

Malusflorentina tree is a medium-sized deciduous, upright and initially vase shaped or pyramidal, but later rounded tree, growing up to 8 by 6 m tall and wide. It may, however, also stay shrubby. and resemble chequer tree (Torminalis glaberrima) leaves.

The white flowers are 1.5-2 cm in diameter, growing in loose clusters of between 2 and 7, and the tree blooms in early summer. The species is monoecious, having hermaphrodite flowers. The bark is dark and fissured with age, but may also be light, flaky and smooth on young individuals. The species is cold hardy to RHS H6 and USDA hardiness zones 4–8, and is not frost tender.

The species is diploid, with a chromosome number of 2n=34.

Distribution and ecology

Malusflorentina has a disjunct distribution, found on both sides of the Adriatic Sea, on the Apennine Peninsula and the Balkan Peninsula. Additionally, a few localities have also been reported from northern Anatolia, particularly from the Marmara region. distribution map is available. Following its initial description in 1806, M. florentina was only known to occur on the Apennine Peninsula, until further research revealed its occurrence in Anatolia and the Balkans in 1889 and 1918, respectively. Thus, although it is not endemic to the Apennine Peninsula, it was at times Throughout its range, M.florentina occurs as a scattered component of temperate and submediterranean oak woodlands and scrub, preferring moist soil.

In Italy, the species is primarily found in the northern central and southern central parts, including in Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Umbria, Marche, Campania, and Basilicata, and is absent from the north. Here, it is a species of warm-temperate (thermophilic) oak woodlands, and a characteristic species of the Teucrio Siculi-Quercion cerridis vegetation alliance within the Quercetalia pubescenti-petraeae order, which occupies slopes at medium elevations or ravines and valleys at lower elevations that are characterised by a cool climate with frost periods and substantial rainfall. These woodlands are dominated by Turkey oak (Quercus cerris), along with other oaks (Q.frainetto, Q.petraea, Q.pubescens), maples (Acer monspessulanum, A.opalus subsp. obtusatum, A.campestre), European hornbeam (Carpinus betulus), chequer tree (Torminalis glaberrima) and, more rarely, European hop-hornbeam (Ostrya carpinifolia). Other typical species include tree heather (Erica arborea), green heather (Erica scoparia), evergreen rose (Rosa sempervirens), Etruscan honeysuckle (Lonicera etrusca), bramble (Rubus hirtus), midland hawthorn (Crataegus laevigata), globe thistle (Echinops siculus), white violet (Viola alba subsp. dehnhardtii), wild madder (Rubia peregrina), false broom (Brachypodium sylvaticum), wood spurge (Euphorbia amygdaloides), wood melick (Melica uniflora), slender wood violet (Viola reichenbachiana), and spurge laurel (Daphne laureola).

In the Balkans, M.florentina is distributed primarily in the southern central part, particularly in North Macedonia, Kosovo, southern Serbia, southwestern Bulgaria and northern Greece, however, isolated populations have also been recorded in central and southern Greece, western Albania, and east Thrace. Here, it occurs in thermophilic deciduous oak woodlands within the Quercetalia pubescentis and Quercetalia roburi-petraeae vegetation alliances. In Bulgaria, the species is found in the Vlahina Mountains and the Struma river valley at 500-900 m altitude in mixed forest communities consisting of downy oak (Quercus pubescens), European hop-hornbeam, Oriental hornbeam, flowering ash (Fraxinus ornus), field elm (Ulmus minor), and mahaleb cherry (Prunus mahaleb), along with a number of smaller trees and shrubs.

The species' pollination mechanism is not known, but other Malus are pollinated by insects, especially bees. The species bears small, red fruit, and is reported to be dispersed by birds. M.florentina, like other rosaceous fruit trees, is light-demanding, requiring an open canopy to thrive. Canopy closure leads to the reduction or absence of flowers and fruits, and may lead to the absence of regeneration and the loss of trees. For example, in the former coppice woodlands surrounding Chiaravalle Abbey, Fiastra, Marche, now part of a protected area, the species is thought to have been aided by traditional management, but is now strictly limited to local canopy openings along pathways, forest edges and gaps.

Gallery

Malus florentina - Florentine crabapple - hawthorn-leaf crabapple - Italienischer Zierapfel - 05.jpg|M.florentina buds in March Malus florentina Italienischner Zierapfel 03.jpg|M.florentina leaf in April Malus florentina Italienischner Zierapfel 04.jpg|M.florentina leaf underside in April Malus florentina Italienischner Zierapfel 02.jpg|Young M.florentina growth in April Malus Florentina blossom Italienischer Zierapfel Blüte 01.jpg|M.florentina blossom Apple - Malus florentina - Florentine crabapple - hawthorn-leaf crabapple - Italienischer Zierapfel.jpg|M.florentina fruit

Status and conservation

Malusflorentina is generally considered to be a rare species, however, since its overall population trend is insufficiently known, it was most recently (2017) assessed as data deficient (DD).

Uses

The fruit of the species can be eaten raw or cooked. When bletted, it has a mealy texture with a soft acidic flesh, and is refreshing in small quantities. but susceptible to fire blight, particularly in North America.

References

Notes

References

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