Wild and cultivated fruit trees

Wild and cultivated fruit trees

2 Conservation and utilization of the major fruit germplasm resources in China

China is one of the three major original centres for cultivated crops in the world. The total amount of fruits useful to mankind ranks first in the world, and the number of species of genera Malus, Pyrus and Prunus all occupy a first place in the world. A number of citrus fruits also originated in China. Fruit trees that originated in China are mainly distributed over three central zones: (1) the Yellow River valley, northwest and northeast regions; (2) the Yangtze River valley and (3) the southern parts of China including southwestern, mid-south and souteastern regions (Table 1).

1 Diversity of major fruit trees

A. Temperate zone fruit trees

There are 35 known species of the genus Malus, of which 24 species originated in China, accounting for 68.6%. The apple (Malus doumeri), being the most important cultivated species, originated in Europe, Middle Asia and the western part of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR) of China. There are large area of wild forests of Malus sieversii along the Tianshan Mountian in XUAR. There are rich apple cultivars in China, there having been bred about 200 new cultivars since the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

Pears (Pyrus spp.) originated in lofty mountain regions of the Caenozoic era in western China and which later evolved and developed into two systems: Eastern and European pears. There are about 30 species in the genus Pyrus, of which 13 of the 16 species of eastern pears originated in China. Of the Chinese-originated Pyrus spp., P. pyrifolia, P. bretschneideri, P. ussuriensis and P. sinkiangensis are economically cultivated, while the others are wild or semi-wild. China has more than 3,500 cultivars of Pyrus, some of which are famous.

Table 1 Fruit species and their original centres in China

Original centre in China	Fruit species
The Yellow River Valley, northwestern and northeastern regions	Prunus persica, P. davidiana, var. potaninii, P. kansuensis, P. mira, P. ferganensis, P. armeniaca, P. ansu, P. mandshurica, P. sibirica, P. ussuriensis, P. tomentosa, Pyrus bretschneideri, P. ussuriensis, P. betuleafolia, P. xerophila, P. phaeocarpa, P. sinkiangensis, P. armeniacaefolia, P. hopeiensis, Malus asiatica, M. prunifolia, M. pumila var. niedzwetzkana, M. micromalus, M. hupehensis, M. sieboldii, M. kansuensis, M. honanensis, M. transitoria, M. toringoides, M. komarovii, M. sieversii, M. baccata, M. mandshurica, M. halliana, M. spectabilis, Crataegus pinnatifida, C. shensiensis. C. maximowiczii, C. sanguinea, C. aurantia, C. dahurica, C. kansuensis, C. altaica, C. remotilobata, C. chlorosorca, C. songarica, Chaenomsles sinensis, Vitis amurensis, Actinidia arguta, A. kolomikta, Castanea mollissima, Morus spp., Vaccinium vitisidaea, V. uliginosum, V. microcarpon, V. oxycoccos, Zizyphus izyphus, Z. Jujuba var. spinosa, Rubus craiaegifolius, R. sachalinensis, Ribes ussuriensis, R. longeracemosum, R. burejense, Fragaria vesea, F. orientalis, F. nubicola, Corylus heterophylla.
The Yangtze River Valley	Prunus mume, P. salicina, P. pseudocerasus, P. simonii, Pyrus pyrifolia, P. serrulata, P. pashia, P. calleryana, Malus hupehensis, Crataegus cuneata, C. wilsonii, C. hepehensis, Vitis davidii, Actinidia chinensis, A. deliciosa, A. eriantha, A. latifolia, A. zhejiangensis, A. henanensis, Vaccinium bracteatum, Diospyros kaki, D. lotus, D. oleifera, Torreya grandis, Ginkgo biloba, Carya cathayensis, Eriobatrya japonica, E. malipoensis, E. prinoides, E. tengyuehensis, E. fragrans, E. serrata, Myric spp., Citrus unshiu, Poncirus trifoliata, C. ichangensis, Fortunella japoneca
Southern parts (including southwestern, mid-south and southeastern regions)	Prunus tomentosa, Pyrus pseudopashia, Malus rockii, M. ombrophila, M. formosana, M. melliana, M. sikkinensis, M. xiaojinesis, M. prattii, M. yunnanensis, Crategus scabrifolia, C. hupehensis, C. oresbia, C. chungtienensis, Rosa roxburghii, Zizyphus mauritiana, Z. xiangchengensis, Z. mairei, Z. pubinervis, Z. laui, Z. rugosa, Actinidia chrysantha, A. eriantha, A. indo-chinensis, Vaccinium delavayi, V. fragile, Diospyros kaki, D. Lobata, D. discolar, Citrus medica, C. medica var. sarcodactylis, C. limonia, C. sinensis, C. aurantium, C. grandis, C. reticulata, C. kinokuni, C. hongheensis, C. macioptera var. kerrii, C. tankan, C. hystrix, Fortunella margarita, F. japonica, F. crassifolia, Clausena lansium, Litchi chinensis, Dimocarpus longan, Canarium pimela, phyllanthus emblica, Musa nana, Sterculia nobilis, Manggifera indica, M. persicifolia

China produces many hawthorn fruits. There are many species of Crataegus in China and of which 17 species are known. Only a few species that originated in China are presently cultivated, and C. pinnatifida var. major in extensively cultivated.

There are many Prunus species in China, of which there are 16 species and 5 varieties that originated here and are the most diverse in the world. The cultivar resources of the genus are also rich, there being more than 800 peaches, 800 plums and 100 apricots, respectively. There are three major cultivated species of Cherry in the world, and of which the most important ones are P. avium and P. pseudocerasus, the latter originating in China.

Chinese date (Ziziphus jujuba) is a China’s endemic fruit and includes 14 species and more than 700 cultivars that originated in China (Section 3.12.4).

China is also one of the most important original regions for wild species of Vitis. The number of species in this genus that originated in China is over 27 and of which the cold-resistant V. amurensis, the bi-sexual flowers of V. davidii and the white-flesh fruits of V. quinguangularis are exploited. The cultivars of bi-sexual flowers “Shuang qing” and cold-resistant “Beichun”, “Gongniang 1”, and “Gongniang 2” are also bred in China

There are 66 species of Diospyros which originated in China and of which 7 species are cultivated, the most popular being D. Kaki. Presently, there are more than 860 cultivars in China. So far, the “Luotian” sweet persimmon is the only cultivar of sweet persimmon originated in China that has been discovered.

Kiwi-fruit, Actinidia spp., mainly originated in China. A general country-wide investigation of Actinidia has already been completed, with the discovery of 61 species and 44 varieties, of which 10 are edible.

There are more than 210 species of Rubus that originated in China, and which are distributed all over the country. The wild resources of Chinese red raspberry, for example, both cold-and drought-reistant R. crataegifelius, and cold-resistant R. sachalinensis are valuable breeding material.

There are more than 40 species of Ribes in China. The valuable wild resources of the genus include disease-resistant R. ussuriensis, long inflorescence (30cm) R. longeracemosum and cold-resistant R. burejense.

B. Tropical and sub-tropical fruit trees

The lofty mountain regions in southwest China are one of the most important centres for citrus germplasm in the world. Citrus fruits are included in 6 genera, of which the most important is Citrus spp. which originated in China, India and the southeastern parts of Asia, and then both Fortunella and Poncirus which also originated in China. Sweet orange (C. sinensis) is a worldwide species of great popularity which also originated in China. China is a major citrus producer, and has rich germplasms including 13 species and about 500 cultivars.

The species and types of Musa are many and most are derived from the progeny of the wild species M. acuminata and M. balbisiana. The wild resources of Musa in China are distributed extensively.

Both Litchi (Litchi chinensis) and Longan (Dimocarpus longan) originated in China. There are large areas of wild Litchi and Longan forests in China. There are cultivars of more than 140 Litchi and about 200 Longan and many cultivars of which are popularly cultivated.

There are about 20 species of the genus Eriobotrya and of which 14 originated in China. The cultivars are also rich (more than 200) in China.

Although only 4 species of Mangifera are presently known in China, many more wild resources exist in the mountainous areas of Hainan, Yunnan and Guangxi provinces and need to be investigated.

C. Other fruit trees

Many other fruit species originated in China, including Rosa roxburghii, Morus spp. (8 species). Hippophae rhamnnoides (4 species and 5 subspecies), Myrica spp. (3 species and 5 varieties), Torreya grandis, Canarium asbum, Phyllanthus emblica, Clauseua lansium, Sterculia nobillis, and Canarium pimela.

2 Conservation and utilization of the major fruit germplasm resources in China

Since the 1950’s, the collection, preservation and use of fruit germplasm resources have been carried out on a wide scale all over the country. Many valuable varieties not having formerly been paid attention to have been identified, for example, “Kuerle Xiangli” pear (Pyrus sinkiangensis) in XUAR, yellow-flesh of Flat peach (Prunus persica var. compressa) in Kashi, XUAR, biennial Persian walnut (Juglans regia) in Akesu of XUAR, or Fufeng of Shaanxi Province, “Chuanzi” persian walnut in Taibai, Shaanxi Province, three season’s Chinese chestnut (Castanea mollissima) in Ziyang, Shaanxi Province, Pregnant persimmon (Diospyros kaki) in Mei, Shaanxi Province, Winter peach (P. persica) in Qinling mountainous districts of Shaanxi Province and Henan Province, Freeze peach (P. persica) in Changyi, Shandong Province, Blood peach (P. persica) in Hebei Province, Great red pomegranate (Punica granatum) in Taian, Shandong Province, “Jiefangzhong” loquat (Eriobotrya japonica) in Putian, Fujian Province, Four season’s litchi (Litchli chenensis) in Huidong Guangdong Province, Red litchi in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province and Seedless wampee (Clauseua lansium) in Guanxi Province. In addition, many new species resources have been discovered, for example, Citrus honghoensis in Honghe, Yunnan Province, C medica var. yunneanensis in Binchuan, Yunnan Province, C. medica var. muliensis in Muli, Sichuan Province, C. grandis-junos－ a new natural hybrid strain of C. grandis and C. junos in Xiushan, Sichuan Province and Malus xiaojinensis in Xiaojin, Maerkang and Huili, Sichuan Province. New wild fruit forests have also been found, such as Malus sieversii in Tianshan Mountain in XUAR, Wild citrus fruits in Dao, Hunan Province, Wild litchi (L. chinensis) and Wild banana (a hybrid strain of both Musa acuminata and M. balbisiana) in Hainan Province. A smooth pit peach (Prunus mira), a valuable wild species, was also found during a fruit tree resource exploration carried out in Tibet Autonomous Region.

Up to 1992, 17 national fruit germplasm repositories have been established all over China. More than 11,835 accessions of fruit germplasms have been collected and preserved including 31 families, 58 genera and 18 major fruit trees which are: apple, pear, citrus fruits, grape, peach, plum, apricot, persimmon, Chinese date, Chinese chestnut, persian walnut, longan, loquat, banana, litchi, hawthorn, ussurian grape and strawberry, as well as special local fruits and rootstocks in Yunnan Province, famous, special fruits and rootstocks in XUAR and cold zone fruits in northeast China (Table 2)

Table 2 A brief introduction to the national fruit germplasm repository of China (1992)

Name of repository	Location	Fruit species preserved	Accession numbers
Xingcheng repository for pear and apple	Xingcheng, Liaoning Province	pear apple	761 750
Zhengzhou repository for grape and peach	Zhengzhou, Henan Province	grape peach	1060 468
Chongqing repository for citrus fruit	Chongqing, Sichuan Province	citrus fruits	1200
Beijing repository for peach and strawberry	Xishang, Beijing	peach strawberry	245 210
Fuzhou repository for longan and loguat	Fuzhou, Fujian Province	longan loquat	218 215
Taian repository for persian walnut and Chinese chestnut	Taian, Shandong Province	persian walnut Chinese chestnut	97 120
Xiongyue repository for plum and apricot	Xiongyue, Liaoning Province	plum apricot	432 466
Nanjing repository for peach and strawberry	Nanjing, Jiangsu Province	peach strawberry	468 160
Taigu repository for Chinese date and grape	Taigu, Shanxi Province	Chinese date grape	450 390
Wuhan repository for sand pear	Wuchang, Hubei Province	sand pear	522
Guangzhou repository for banana and lutchi	Guangzhou, Guangdong Province	banana litchi	170 130
Yunnan repository for special local fruits and rootstocks	Kunming, Yunnan Province	special local fruits and rootstocks	750 (139)
Gongzhuling repository for cold zone fruits	Gongzhuling, Jilin Province	cold zone fruits and rootstocks	723 (21)
Xinjiang repository for famous and special local fruits and rootstocks	Luntai, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region	famous and special local fruits and rootstocks	648
Miexian repository for persimmon	Mei county, Shaanxi Province	Persimmon	617
Zuojia repository for ussurian grape	Zuojia, Jilin Province	ussurian grape	320
Shenyang Agricultural University repository for hawthorn	Shenyang, Liaoning Province	Hawthorn	245

The many germplasms of wild, semi-cultivated and cultivated fruits in China are valuable resources for the country and the world. They exist quietly in different areas, as oddments, and scattered in a few mountainous forests, in the expanse of open lands, in the orchard or in the courtyards of residences, most of which have not been paid attention to, or ignored for long periods of time. Between 15%~20% of fruit germplasm resources have been destroyed by dumping wastes, indiscriminately felling forests, building reservoirs, building factories and developing railways and highways. Thirty-nine species and 2 varieties of fruit germplasms, have been identified and listed in the “List of Rare and Endangered Plant Species of China” announced by the Environmental Protection Committee of the State Council of China.

The loss of fruit germplasms is a serious world problem, differing in degree in each country. Exploration, collection, preservation and use of fruit germplasms is an indication of the level of civilization of each country. Although we have already done much protection work, the task is still arduous. We must work hard to protect China’s rich and special fruit germplasm diversity.