Sievers’s Apple-tree
Status: LC category. A polymorphic species of the mountain-central Asian region, a valuable element of the gene pool, one of the secondary forest-forming and fruit-bearing species [61, 21, etc.]. The only species from the flora of Kyrgyzstan included in the International Red List (IUCN RLTS, category VU B1+2c) [87].
Description. Trees up to 3-5 m tall, with a compact crown. Branches with reddish-brown bark, or gray, peeling. Shoots lighter than those of M. niedzwetzkyana. Leaves from dense to thin, up to 10 cm long. Flowers in clusters of 2-5, pale pink, 5.5-6.0 cm in diameter. Apples in clusters of 2-3, flattened-spherical, 3-7 cm in diameter, green or yellowish, often with a purple blush. Sweet-sour, dry.
Biological features. Blooms in late April - early May, fruits in July-September. Propagates by seeds and root suckers. The species is usually low-growing but winter-hardy and relatively undemanding [61, 55, etc.].
Distribution general and in the country. Mountains of Central Asia (Kyrgyzstan, Southern Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan), Northern Afghanistan, Xinjiang, and the Tarbagatai Range [61, 81, 23, 35, 20, 18]. In Kyrgyzstan - the Kyrgyz Range (northern slope), Talas Range (west) [35], Suusamyr-Too (southern slope), Kavak-Too [61], Chatkal, Uzun-Akhmat, Atoinok, Fergana, basins of the Chatkal, Kichi, and Chon-Kemin Rivers [20]; absent in the Alai and Turkestan Ranges, except for the Turok area [61].
Habitat. In the black forest zone, along the bottoms and slopes of gorges, at altitudes from 900 (in Kyrgyzstan usually from 1200) to 2400 m above sea level [61, 81, 23, 18].
Population. Trees are found both individually and in relatively large groups in forest masses, almost throughout the species' range in Kyrgyzstan. The apple forests managed by the forestry authorities of the Republic, where Sievers’s apple-tree is the main species, are estimated to cover about 16,700 ha as of the year 2000 [21].
Limiting factors. Economic activity, excessive grazing. In some habitats, trees are cut down for fuel, and are periodically heavily affected by harmful insects [35]. Cultivation. Widely cultivated in Central Asia and in the countries of the former USSR (north to Moscow and Kaliningrad [35]), sometimes grown by local residents in household plots in Kyrgyzstan. Cultivated in the Botanical Garden of the National Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic since 1953 from seeds, began to bear fruit at 8 years [55].
Existing conservation measures. The species was listed in the IUCN RLTS in 1994 [87] as vulnerable on a global scale, and also in the Red Book of Kazakhstan in 1981 as decreasing in number [23]. Several habitats are located in protected areas in the Western Tien Shan [18, 35] (in Kyrgyzstan - in the reserves of Padysha-Ata, Sary-Chelek, and Besh-Aral, as well as in the nature reserves of Dashman, Uzun-Akhmat, Iyrisuy, etc.).
Recommended conservation measures. Control marginal populations (in the Suusamyr-Too, Kavak-Too, Alai Ranges), increase fines for the destruction of trees as objects protected by IUCN.
Kyzyl alma
Sievers’s Apple-tree
Malus sieversii (Ledeb.) M. Roem. (hissarica S. Kudr., kirghisorum Al. Theod. et Fed., jusepczuki Vass.)
Status: LC. This species is polymorphic and spread mainly in the mountains of Central Asia, a valuable food plant for apple selection. It is the only species from the flora of Kyrgyzstan which is listed in IUCN RLTS (category VU B1+2c). The area of the species in the country includes the Alexander (western part of the northern macroslope), Talas (western part), Suusamyr-Too (southern slope), Uzun-Akhmat, Chatkal, Atoinok, Fergana, and Alai (northeastern part) Mountain Ranges, and the basins of the Chatkal, Kichi-Kemin, and Chon-Kemin Rivers. Trees occur individually and in groups in the forest belt at 1,200-2,400 m above sea level. The period of flowering is from the end of April to the beginning of May, and fruiting occurs from July to September, with propagation occurring both generatively and vegetatively. The apple forests in Kyrgyzstan (with M. sieversii as the main component) are managed by forest governmental authorities and occupy about 16,700 ha. Limiting factors include economic activity in inhabited areas, felling (firewood cutting), fruit collection by people and consumption by animals, and excessive pasturage; the hybridization factor for genetic purity is unstudied. However, at present, this species is not endangered in the country. The species is widely cultivated in world arboretums, and in the Bishkek Botanical Garden since 1953. Special monitoring for some small isolated marginal natural populations is recommended to protect this species, along with monitoring and educational work for people and fines for illegal felling.
