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The Axe to fall on Crab Apple Trees
The compensation culture of our society is now cutting into the quick of innocent play and pleasures. It prevents children from playing the age-old game of ‘conkers’ joyfully gathered from the Chestnut trees of our Parks, unless they are dressed up in goggles to make them look like ‘The Crazy Frog’ of mobile phone ring-tones fame. Lord knows how long it will be before Local Authorities threaten to ‘axe’ Chestnut trees because the insurance deemed necessary to protect them from a compensatory minded public against somebody who once got hit on the head by a falling conker. It’s bonkers! The latest threat to simple beautification in our lives is to Crab apple trees in the borough of Havering, East London.1 Council officials ruled that the picturesque crab apple fruit trees, dazzling with blossoms in the spring and stunning with masses of red and yellow tiny fruits in autumn, which have stood for decades, have suddenly become a danger to pedestrians! 2 The Council say that every autumn rotten fruit falls from the trees onto the pavements causing a slippery surface that could cause injury to pedestrians and lead to insurance claims against the Council, even though no claim has ever been made.3 Who’d ‘a thought it! – having ‘aired’ the idea, it’s likely that some no-gooder will think to claim compensation in the future. This felling proposal is to cut down several hundred mature fruit-bearing trees of different varieties, among them Crab apple trees, at the cost of £150,000.4 The trees are to be replaced by planting ‘safer’ species. Crab apple and pear trees are judged to be the worst offenders. Residents are not happy – they know it will take decades for any replacement trees to reach the same level of maturity. Add the vulnerability of all young trees from vandals to that equation and the long-term or end result could be no trees at all. In its defence the Council said that the tree removals programme is not only about potential insurance claims. It is a widespread project to replace certain trees, including fruit trees, with more suitable species.5 Already officials in the West London borough of Ealing have been considering axing 4,500 Lime trees (Lime/Linden: Tilia cordata Miller, T. x europa L.).6 Lime trees can live a very long time, the longest living tree is recorded to be over 700 years old.7 The axing of the Havering trees has been suspended while a tree-felling review is being carried out, but this may only be a ‘stay of execution’. Thinking of apples, crab or otherwise, and this proposal’s gravity - it’s enough to make Sir Isaac Newton turn in his grave.8 How could he have discovered the theory of gravity without a falling apple. I would seem our American cousins have more reverence for the Crab Apple tree than we do and give them some pride of place. In Central Park at the foot of the statue of Alexander Hamilton is a field of grass called Hamilton Lawn. It is a favourite sunbathing location for local residents and visitors, especially in the spring when the crab apples are in full bloom.9 And, trees surrounding the National Library of Medicine, no less, are Crab apple trees of the Malus Arnoldiana variety.10 Can we also learn from others’ mistakes? More than 60 years ago the crab apple tree was a favourite among New York City landscape architects, then it ‘fell out of fashion’ and the trees started to die out. However, in 2003 they brought the sweet smelling crab apple tree back to New York City and planted 100 trees and will be propagating ‘heritage’ cultivars in their own nurseries.11 As the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation point out: “Both common sense and scientific study have shown that greenery in the center of busy traffic, gardens amidst concrete sidewalks, and urban forests all have a calming, even restorative, effect on the city dweller.” We needs must have a care to see that the new breed of compensation culture aficionados do not rob us of our arboreal inheritance, for our historical ties with trees and the Crab Apple tree are strong. Shakespeare does not only mention the crab apple in his play: ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, there is also a plaster model of ‘Shakespeare Asleep under the Crab Tree’ by Edward Grubb (1740-1816) that is now preserved in Shakespeare’s house.12 True or false, it illustrates a tale originating in the eighteenth century of Shakespeare engaging, or attempting to engage in a drinking contest. He supposedly fell asleep, either having found that that his prospective competitors had gone to a nearby village or due to excessive drinking.
Crab Apple Trees Historical Ties The crab apple tree is native to Britain. The original authentic wild crab apple tree (Malus sylvestris) has thorns, which serves to remind us that it is a member of the Rose family (Rosaceae). The name ‘Crab’ is thought to be associated with the tree’s form, which resembles or may give the impression of a giant crab. ‘Malus’, derived from the Latin for bad or evil ‘mal’, has nothing to do with the disposition of the tree, but with Man’s fall from grace by eating an apple in the Garden of Eden. Such a misnomer of the tree’s character is probably the reason for the superstition that its blossom is said to be unlucky to bring into the house. ‘Sylvestris’ means ‘of the forest or the woods’, where our ancestors would first have seen crab apple trees growing wild. In these days of TV horticulture, with concrete, steel and decking, it is perhaps difficult for us to realize just what an impact these trees, set in our disappearing ancient woodland, covered in massed spring blooms or in bounties of autumnal golden fruit would have made upon man perhaps thousands of years ago. Not forgetting Nature’s gift of ‘food for free’ provision these fruits made for our early survival and later culinary pleasure and other practical use. The fruit is a source of pectin, used as a thickener in jams and as a culture medium in laboratories, as well as a health-food supplement for the management of cholesterol. A red to yellow dye is obtained from the bark and old wood makes excellent scented fuel. Apple wood is particularly hard and dense and traditionally was used for tools, handles, clubs, wedges, and inlay work.13 When walking by a crab apple tree it’s as well to remember that the crab apple tree is the original parent stock from which cultivated apples we now choose to eat have been cultivated. From a few natural crab apple species (Pyrus malus), varieties of apples increased to thousands and in the diverse cultures of our civilization can now be found all over the world. Of the many varieties of crab apple tree growing in temperate climates around the world, perhaps the best known are: the Siberian crab apple tree (Malus baccata), with masses of white bloom and red apples, grown as an ornamental and for its fruit.14 The Hupeh crab apple (Malus hupehensis) a native of China stretching down to India, with pink blossom and fruits colouring as it ripens from yellow and orange to red-purple.15 There is the North American sweet crab apple (Malus coronia), favoured by early white settlers in America and doubtless vital to the native population16. The purple crab apple (Malus x purpurea), with shiny red-purple leaves and reddish-purple flowers, as well as a profusion of small red or purple autumn apples, is a hybrid ornamental tree useful for planting in gardens, around the perimeters of buildings and, of course, with which to line streets.17 The crab apple is well-loved, conceivably because it may strike a cord of generational memory within our DNA, perhaps the pleasure of finding food for survival or sheer delight in scent and colour. But if it does not stir an ancient memory buried in your DNA and the blossoming trees descended from the wild are to be plucked form our streets, then it is time to plant one in your garden if you have sufficient space. Autumn can be a sad or really SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) time for some people, come rain or shine the sight of masses of bright yellow-red fruits in a crab apple tree can lift the spirits.
Crab Apple Medicine Among temperate deciduous tree species, the crab apple tree (M. baccata) does not fare badly when it comes to water stress and/or water efficiency, 18 which is a good thing. But to date science has not ostensibly investigated the crab apple specifically for its medicinal values for health. Nonetheless, discoveries are happening daily, so nobody knows what the future of any plant not yet under the microscope may hold tomorrow. Since the crab apple’s culinary use is of the ‘whole fruit’, we may at least construe that Russian research done a couple of years ago would suggest the crab apple’s health potential is looking good. They found animals that were fed a cholesterol-containing diet and tested with apple peel and apple pulp showed that diets supplemented with apple (and pear) ‘peel’ exercised a significantly higher positive influence on plasma lipid levels and on plasma antioxidant capacity than diets with fruit pulps.19 So, as most people ‘peel’ their apples before cooking, the use of the ‘whole fruit’ of the crab apple could yield a higher volume of antioxidants per weight of fruit and have a good effect on cholesterol levels. You may not eat the equivalent of three dessert apples a day in equivalent weight of crab apples, which is certainly not recommended, but at least its good to know that it is suggested by research that fruit intake contributes towards weight loss.20 From this we may conclude that eating e.g. crab apple jelly should not add to your girth. In fact, the more one contemplates the crab apple the more it seems like it would be a good idea if scientists did take an interest in the fruit. For example, Brazilian researchers put apple as only second to cranberry in phenolic content and antioxidant activity. And, when several fruits were tested ‘in vitro’ on human liver-cancer cells, apple rated third in antiproliferation activity. They concluded that “dietary cancer prevention is proposed to provide a new alternative biomarker for future epidemiological studies in dietary cancer prevention and health promotion.”21 We have to turn to traditional and folk medicine to find the virtues of the Crab Apple. The redoubtable Mrs. Grieves in her Herbal gives us some recompense: Bartholomeus Anglicus’s Encyclopedia, one of the earliest printed books (Cologne c.1470) containing botanical information, tells us that the apples, including crab apple ‘… is gracious in sight and in taste and vertuous in medecyne … some beryth sourysh fruyte and harde, and some ryght soure and some ryght swete, with a good savoure and mery.'’22 Mrs Grieves further states that the astringent verjuice of the Crab, rich in tannin, is helpful in chronic diarrhoea. The bark may be used in decoction for intermittent and bilious fevers.23 A more recent writer has described the crab apple and its use, as an astringent and laxative, and the crushed fruit pulp as a poultice to heal inflammations or small flesh wounds. Certainly not for home use! - The bark, especially the root bark, is said to be anthelmintic, refrigerant and soporific, and an infusion is used in the treatment of intermittent, remittent and bilious fevers.24 Interestingly, the leaves contain up to 2.4% of an antibacterial substance called ‘florin’, which inhibits the growth of a number of gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria in as low a concentration as 30 ppm (parts per million),25 which may in turn partly explain the success of its homoeopathic use.
Crab apple Blossom - www.wellness-shop.com
Homoeopathy is a branch of Complementary Medicine that favours the crab apple. It is featured in Dr Edward Bach’s (1870-1936) repertoire of remedies. Although it is not present in his famous ‘Rescue Remedy’, Bach’s ‘Rescue Cream’ contains the five remedies contained in ‘Rescue Remedy’ i.e. Cherry Plum, Clematis, Impatiens, Rock Rose and Star of Bethlehem, plus Crab Apple. The cream is used as a convenient way to apply Rescue Remedy externally, and for bumps and bruises of all kinds. Dr Bach says of the Crab Apple remedy pure and simple: “This is a remedy for cleansing. It is for those who have the feeling that they have something unclean about them. Often this is something apparently insignificant. Others may have a much more serious illness. This remains almost unnoticed in comparison with the one detail upon which they concentrate their attention. In both cases they are, however, anxiously concerned with freeing themselves from the one issue that holds them captive and seems too essential to them and that they want to be healed from it. They become despondent when the treatment does not work. As a cleansing remedy, this medicine can clean wounds if the patient has reason to believe that toxins have penetrated there that should be eliminated.” Today the words used are a little different; it is used for persons who have low self-esteem, which covers a lot of other ancillary sensitivities, such as perceived failings and phobias this state may provoke. In terms of medicine, modern scientists may have neglected the crab apple to date, but the culinary community have brought forward into our post-modern world the crab apple’s historical culinary uses.
Crab Apples in the Kitchen
“She had only to stand in the orchard, to put her hand on a little crab tree and look up at the apples, to make you feel the goodness of planting and tending and harvesting at last.” - Willela Sibert Cather (1873-1947) It has been recommended that crab apple fruit improves considerably if it is not harvested until there has been a frost.26 Mrs Grieve’s Herbal gives us a recipe for the most familiar traditional crab apple jelly,27 which is used as a condiment to go with cold meats, especially venison and other game. Then again there are other versions to consider, such as ‘Mary Wynne’s Crabapple jelly’28. For those who like it hot, ‘Crab Apple Hot Pepper Jelly’ 29 or for a luxurious tea-time accompaniment the BBC Celebrity Chef from ‘Ready Steady Cook’ Paul Rankin’s ‘Warm Scones with Crab Apple Jelly’.30 ‘Spiced Crabapple Jelly’31 will excite the taste-buds of those who like spicy foods. This can easily be achieved by adding a few whole spices to the cooking apples and, depending upon the chosen spices, first tie the spices up in a cloth bag. Those who are lucky enough to have scented roses blooming into the back-end of the year in their gardens, could bask in the romance of ‘Rose Petal and Crab Apple Jelly’.32 Dark pink in colour, it can add that little extra something to a candlelit supper, hot or cold. ‘Pan Fried Pheasant Breast with Crab Apple Jelly’ is a good ‘hot’ option.33 To ring the changes of crab apples as an accompaniment to the main course or cold meats, why not try ‘Crabapple Sauce’34 or ‘Crabapple Pickles35 and ‘Sweet Crabapple Pickles’.36 Having friends to ‘tea’ has become very fashionable in the third millennium. This gives you the opportunity to air your home-made jam and try your efforts out in good company. You could choose from ‘Crab Apple Preserve’37 ‘Kathy Buchner’s Crab Appple Jam’38, or ‘Diet Blackberry Crabapple Jam’39 to cater for those on a diet. The nutrient analysis per one tablespoonful of this jam has no fat, protein or sodium, but carbohydrate 9.5g., potassium 32mg and 3.2mg of phorphorus. Crab apples can be used to make many different drinks, from ‘Raw Crabapple Juice’,40 and ‘Crabapple Wine Gwanter’41 to ‘Crabapple Liqueur’42 and ‘Gertie’s Crabapple Liqueur’.43 But, for people who may not have the time or inclination to make their own crab apple drinks, there is a Danish company that makes a pale orange-coloured ‘Crabapple Schnapps’44 from fully ripe Siberian crabapples that boasts wonderful flavours. Additionally, it may be used in jams, jellies, chutnies, fruit sauces, desserts or in any other dish where you would normally use apple juice. If you want to impress your guests, ‘Crabapple Schnapps’ is an excellent appetizer and makes a good talking point, which is always useful to get conversation moving, especially if there is an uneasy social mix. If, due to the compensatory culture, this proposed felling of trees that give our urban streets and us so much spreads and goes ahead, you might like to do the Crab Apple Tree a small favour and really consider planting one in your garden. At least you and it should be ‘safe’ there, and you will surely benefit daily from each other.
References: Picture 1: ‘Crab’ is the name given to the crab-apple in Shakespeare’s time and ‘roasted crab’ in a bowl of ale was a popular Christmas dish. Picture 2: Crab apple Bach Remedies - http://www.wellness-shop.com/crab_apple.html
1. “Facing the axe, trees that drop ‘dangerous’ fruit” by Jaya Narain, Daily Mail, 18th June 2005. 2. Ibid. 3. Ibid. 4. Ibid. 5. Ibid. 6. Ibid. 7. Linden Blossoms http://www.holisticaroma.co.uk/articles/Lindenblossoms.htm 8. Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) English Scientist, Philosopher, Astronomer, and Mathematician invented a reflecting telescope, microscope and sextant. He discovered the Theory of Gravity by means of a Falling Apple. 9. Hamilton Lawn: E83 - http://www.centralpark2000.com/ 10. United States – National Library of Medicine – Object of Art: Flowering Trees. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/tour/trees.html 11. New York City Dept. of Parks & Recreation – Parks & Recreation 2002-2003 Biennial Report ‘Eight Seasons of Progress’ http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_newsroom/biennial_report/biennial_02_03/html/greening.html 12. Windows on Warwickshire – Unlocking the Past. http://www.search.windowsonwarwickshire.org.uk 13. The Crab Apple: http://www.the-tree.org.uk/BritishTrees/Apple/apple.htm 14. Ibid. 15. Ibid. 16. Ibid. 17. Ibid. 18. ‘Response of five temperate deciduous tree species to water stress.’ Ranney TG, et al. Mountain Horticultural Crops Research and Extension Centre, Dept. of Horticultural Science, North Carolina State Uv., Fletcher, NC, USA. Tree Physiol. 1990 Dec;6(4):439-48. 19. ‘Apple and pear peel and pulp and their influence on plasma lipids and antioxidant potential in rats fed cholesterol-containing diets.’ Leontowicz M. et al. Dept. of Animal Physiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Warsaw Agricultural Uv., Warsaw, Poland. J Agric Food Chem. 2003 Sep 10;51(19):5780-5. 20. ‘Weight loss associated with a daily intake of three apples or three pears among overweight women.’ Conceicao de Oliveira M, et al. Instituto de Medicina Social, State Uv. of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Nutrition 2003 Mar;19(3):253-6. 21. ‘Antioxidant and antiproliferative activities of common fruits.’ Sun J, et al. Dept. of Food Science, Cornell Uv., Ithaca, New York, USA. J Agric Food Chem. 2002 Dec 4; 50(25):7449-54. 22. Mrs Grieves Herbal - http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/a/apple044.html 23. Ibid. 24. Plants for a Future – Medicine - http://www.ibiblio.org/pfaf/cgi-bin/arr_html?Malus+sylvestris&CAN=COMIND – Supporting Refs: Mrs Grieve A Modern Herbal. Penguin 1984 ISBN 0-14-046-440-9. Chiej. R. Encyclopaedia of Medicinal Plants. MacDonald 1984 ISBN 0-356-10541-5. Launert. E. Edible and Medicinal Plants. Hamlyn 1981 ISBN 0-600-37216-2. Usher. G. A Dictionary of Plants Used by Man. Constable 1974 ISBN 0094579202. Ahrendt. Berberis and Mahonia. Journal of the Linnean Society, 57 1961. Brouk. B. Plants Consumed by Man. Academic Press 1975 ISBN 0-12-136450-x. Duke. J. A. and Ayensu. E. S. Medicinal Plants of China Reference Publications, Inc. 1985 ISBN 0-917256-20-4. Chopra. R. N., Nayar. S. L. and Chopra. I. C. Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants (Including the Supplement). Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi. 1986. . Moerman. D. Native American Ethnobotany Timber Press. Oregon. 1998 ISBN 0-88192-453-9. 25. Ibid. 26. Ibid. 27. Mrs Grieve A Modern Herbal. - http://www.botanical.com/botanical/mgmh/a/apple044.html 28. Mary Wynne’s Crabapple Jelly - http://sidedish.allrecipes.com/az/MryWynnsCrbpplJlly.asp 29. Crab Apple Hot Pepper Jelly - http://www.recipezaar.com/90599 30. Warm Scones with Crab Apple Jelly - http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/warmsconeswithcrabap_71128.shtml 31. Spiced Crabapple Jelly - http://www.mrswages.com/recipes/applejelly.asp 32. Rose Petal and Crabapple Jelly - http://earthnotes.tripod.com/rose.htm 33. Pan Fried Phesant Breast with Crab Apple Jelly - http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/panfriedpheasantbrea_71126.shtml 34. Crabapple Sauce - http://www.spruce.ca/food/crabapple_recipes.htm 35. Crabapple Pickles - http://www.ichef.com/recipe.cfm/smocid/87/recipe/Crabapple%20Pickles/itemid/94623/task/display/recipeid/94272 36. Sweet Pickled Crabapples by Peggy Gilmore (O’Connor, Hyla, The Early American Cookbook, 1974 - http://groups.msn.com/TheWiccanHerbalist/crabapplerecipes.msnw 37. Crab Apple Preserve - http://www.classic-culinary-arts.com/preserving/crab-apple_preserve_recipe/crab-apple_preserve_recipe.shtml 38. Kathy Buchner’s Crabapple Jam - http://www.boskydellnatives.com/crabapplejam.htm 39. Diet Blackberry Crabapple Jam - http://www.kidney.ab.ca/kitchen/recipes/crabapple_blackberry_jam_diet.html 40. Raw Crabapple Juice - http://www.spruce.ca/food/crabapple_recipes.htm 41. Crabapple Wine Gewanter - http://groups.msn.com/TheWiccanHerbalist/crabapplerecipes.msnw 42. Crabapple Liqueur – http://www.cooksrecipes.com/beverage/crabapple-liqueur-recipe.html 43. Gertie’s Crabapple Liqueur - http://www.cooksrecipes.com/beverage/crabapple-liqueur-recipe.html 44. Crabapple Schnapps - http://www.danish-schnapps-recipes.com/crabapple.html
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