Scotland’s wildest wild apples gathered for ‘gene bank’ orchard in the Trossachs

A genetic refuge for Scotland’s wildest crab apple trees has been established at Woodland Trust Scotland’s Glen Finglas Estate in the Trossachs.

A seed stand of 59 trees was planted by staff and volunteers beside Loch Venachar after a five-year search to find the wildest crab apples around the country.

Twigs cut from pure wild apple trees in Galloway, Argyll and Ross-shire were grafted to root stock to create the new orchard.

Truly wild crab apple (Malus sylvestris) is one of the rarest trees in Scotland. Precise details are known for only around 300. 

The Trust wants a source of truly wild crab apple seeds to plant as part of woodland creation schemes. It has been working in partnership with forestry consultant Rick Worrell to gather the wild stock to establish the seed stand at Loch Venachar. 
 
Rick said: “Most apple trees people see in the countryside are not truly native. They are often the result of cores from eating-apples being discarded. Apples love to hybridise so there is a wide spectrum of trees out there with varying proportions of wild and domestic genes.” 
 
The new orchard was planted using grafts from truly native trees, which underwent genetic testing by the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.  

Players of People’s Postcode Lottery helped buy the land where the orchard has been planted. 
 
The seed stand has been established with no domestic or hybrid apple trees nearby, to avoid the chance of cross pollination. 
 
Woodland Trust Scotland volunteers will be looking after the site where 29 more trees will be added next year. 
 
The Trust’s volunteering development officer Matilda Scharsach said: “We can’t wait to see the apple trees in blossom in the spring, and to begin to harvest the seed in years to come, to grow on for our planting projects. If we hadn’t taken steps to create this new orchard preserving the wildest native stock, there was a real prospect of losing them forever.” 

Notes to editors

For further information contact George Anderson at Woodland Trust Scotland on 07770 700631.

The Woodland Trust is the largest woodland conservation charity in the UK with more than 500,000 supporters. It wants to see a world where woods and trees thrive for people and nature.

The Trust has three key aims:

• protect ancient woodland, which is rare, unique and irreplaceable
• restoration of damaged ancient woodland, bringing precious pieces of our natural history back to life
• establish native trees and woods with the aim of creating resilient landscapes for people and wildlife.

Established in 1972, the Woodland Trust now has over 1,000 sites in its care covering approximately 29,000 hectares. Access to its woods is free so everyone can benefit from woods and trees.