Apples are not native to North America. They originated in Kazakhstan, in central Asia east of the Caspian Sea. Alma Ata, capital of Kazakhstan, until 1997, means “full of apples.” By 1500 BC apple seeds had been carried throughout Europe.
Apples as we know them today are the result of a very long tradition of cultivation that goes back thousands of years to the wild apple forests of central Asia. Apples were domesticated, cultivated and introduced to the rest of the world via ancient trade routes and arrived in Australia with the First Fleet.
The first apple tree planted in Tasmania dates from 1788 when William Bligh anchored in Adventure Bay on Bruny Island and planted a selection of fruit, including three apple seedlings, the first apple trees planted in Australia.
The major production areas include the Goulburn Valley, Gippsland, Yarra Valley and the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria; Stanthorpe in Queensland; Batlow and Orange in New South Wales; the Huon Valley and Tamar Valley in Tasmania; the Adelaide Hills in South Australia; and Donnybrook, Manjimup and the Perth Hills in ...
Apples have been grown in New Zealand since Europeans first settled in the country. The missionary Samuel Marsden introduced the first apple trees in 1819. Pipfruit growers were quick to realise the export potential.
The Australian market has been closed to New Zealand apples since 1921, following the discovery in New Zealand in 1919 of the bacterial disease fireblight.
The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor, Malus sieversii, is still found. Apples have been grown for thousands of years in Asia and Europe and were brought to North America by European colonists.
Among the native fruits, eleven prominent native species have been commercially produced in Australia including bush tomato, Davidson's plum, desert lime, finger lime, Kakadu plum, lemon aspen, muntries, quandong, Tasmanian pepper berry, and Illawarra plum.
The 'Granny Smith' apple originated in Sydney Australia, in 1868. Its discoverer, Maria Ann Smith, had emigrated from England in 1839 with her husband Thomas. They purchased a small orchard cultivating fruit.
Grown in the cold-climate regions Australia-wide, apples are harvested between February and June every year, before the trees go dormant for winter. To see when this variety is in peak season and Australian sourced, please view our Fruit and Veg seasonal calendar here.
The modern cultivated apple developed from the apple population native to Kazakhstan as these trees were on the side of the mountain range favourable for the fruit being easily transported further west. On the other hand, the variety of apple from Xinjiang was never cultivated.
Seeds of oranges, limes and lemons were first brought to Australia in 1788 by Captain Arthur Phillip, the first Governor of New South Wales. The colony's Chaplain, Reverend Richard Johnson, planted a small orange grove in Bridge Street, Sydney. These became the first orange trees to bear fruit in Australia.
The Granny Smith, also known as a green apple or sour apple, is an apple cultivar that originated in Australia in 1868. It is named after Maria Ann Smith, who propagated the cultivar from a chance seedling.
SYDNEY—18 June 2008—Apple's first retail store in Australia will open onGeorge Street in Sydney on Thursday 19 June at 5:00 p.m. Located in the heart of thecity's shopping district, the Apple Store Sydney features two floors dedicated toMacs and iPods and a third floor entirely dedicated to service, including the world ...
Citrus tree
In terms of limes, one of the most unique Australian native fruit trees is the finger lime. Citrus trees prefer free-draining soils that are neutral to acidic. They also require regular watering and thrive with a layer of organic mulch.
The first apples in Japan were brought from China in the Heian Period (around 918). They were very small and often used at Buddhist temples as offerings. In 1871, the history of Japanese apples took a big step forward as 75 varieties were imported from the United States.
Aussie first farming. We believe Aussie farmers grow some of the best fruit and veg in the world. That's why Coles has an Australian First Sourcing Policy. In fact, all our bananas, apples, tomatoes, carrots and many more fruit and veg are 100% Aussie, 100% of the time.
Geography/History. The Kangaroo Apple is native to southeastern Australia and New Zealand. The two different species that go by the common name Kangaroo Apple share a similar native range, and both have been cultivated for the alkaloid industry.
Like many of the world's most beautiful things, Pink Lady apples got their start in exotic Australia. Their clever creator was a man named John Cripps, who first grew the glamorous fruits at his Western Australia farm in the 1990s. In fact, the cultivar was—and sometimes still is—referred to as Cripps Pink.
Although mango is not native to Australia, many selections of trees were made in the 1960's. These trees were generally found in the vicinity of Queensland ports. Many of the trading ships in the 1800's left mango seeds behind that found their way on to farms and stations.
The types of fruit and seed depended on the season and availability, but could include wild passionfruit, wild oranges, bush tomato, bush banana, bush plums, mulga seeds and wattle seeds. Aboriginal Australians would also gather honey and nectar from bees, honey ants, flowers and trees.
As you might expect, Fuji comes from Japan. A development program was started in the late 1930s at Tohoku Fruit Tree Research Station in the city of Morioka, located in the main apple growing region of Iwate on the island of Honshu.
The Fuji apple's roots are found in Fujisaki, Japan where it was born in the late 1930s. Growers at the Tohoku Research Station used traditional cross pollination of two common apple varieties – Red Delicious and Virginia Ralls Janet – to create Fuji.
China was the largest producer of apples in the world in 2021 followed by Turkey and the United States. China was the largest producer of apples in the world in 2021 followed by Turkey and the United States. China produced more than 101 billion pounds of apples in 2021.