China is the largest apple producer with about 45 million tons annually--nearly half of the world's production.

A Hokuto apple that weighed in at 4 lbs. 1 oz. was discovered by Chisato Iwasaki in Hirosaki City, Japan on Oct. 24, 2005, making it the largest apple ever recorded.

Rosaceae, the rose family, is a medium-sized family of flowering plants that includes many edible fruits such as apples, pears, peaches, apricots, plums, and cherries.

Like all fruit trees, apples need to be pollinated if they are to set fruit. This involves the transfer of pollen from the stamen (the male part of the flower) to the stigma (the female part). Honey bees (Apis mellifera) are the most important and most commonly used pollinator of apples. Other less commonly used bees for apple pollination are bumble bees and mason bees.

Every fruiting spur on an apple tree produces a cluster of six buds--five centered around a central blossom known as the King Bloom. Apples that grow from a king bloom are often larger than those around them, and some growers will thin the smaller apples growing nearby in the summertime in order to make room for the king bloom apple to grow to its full potential.

Orchards that produce cider by the gallon can use as much as 20 pounds to press a single gallon.

Though the forbidden fruit in the Book of Genesis is not identified, popular Christian tradition holds that Adam and Eve ate an apple from the forbidden tree in the Garden of Eden. The unnamed fruit of Eden thus became an apple, and the apple became a symbol for knowledge, immortality, temptation, the fall of man and sin.

Apple seeds contain amygdalin, a substance that releases cyanide into the blood stream when chewed and digested. However, apple seeds in small amounts do not contain enough cyanide to cause harm.

Apples are fat-free, sodium-free and cholesterol-free. They are also an excellent source of fiber.

Michigan designated the apple blossom as its official state flower in 1897. And Arkansas followed suit in 1901.