The Amazing Apple
By Katelyn Parsons
The Basics
Apples are rounded fruits that come from trees. Apples are usually red, yellow or green, but they can be a mixture of two. They have firm, white flesh and a seed-filled core.
Blossom to Apple
Apples start out as buds on trees. In the spring, the buds bloom into flowers. The flowers have three apple making parts; the stamen, the pistil, and the ovary. The stamen have pollen on their ends. The pollen are the male cells. The pollen sticks to the pistil, which takes the pollen to the ovary, where the female cells are. But, there's a catch: the female cells have to be fertilized by male cells from another apple tree! Once fertilized, the petals fall off, and the calyx, or sepals, cover up the ovary, stamen and pistils. The ovary grows bigger and bigger over the summer, until it becomes a full-grown apple in the fall. Then it's time to pick 'em!
Apple flower chart
The Types
There are about 7,500 known types of apples. A few are Gala, Cortland, Delicious and Empire apples. Each type has a different shape, size, taste, and color that make it unique. Some apples are circular, others oval-shaped. Some are large, others small. Some are sour, some are sweet. Some are red, yellow or green. Others can be a mixture.
apple varieties
Using Apples
When harvested, some apples get washed and sent directly to grocers. But, lots of the crops are put in cold rooms to keep them fresh, so we can have apples all year. Other parts of the crop are used to make goods like juice, cider (to the left), caramel apples, pie, apple tart, cobbler and apple fritters.