The Malus is a common coastal tree with a small sour fruit. It grows wild but is most often found on farms as a food-producing crop.

Appearance. The Malus is a small tree, not growing more than six or seven peds high. It is a many-branched tree with only a few sturdy weight-bearing ones. These branches fan out in all directions, giving it a rather odd globus form. Contributing to this appearance is the fact that no branches grow below the first two peds of its trunk. The bark on the trunk and branches is a smooth gray color, which is darker around scars and blemishes. The leaves of the Malus are shaped much like the tree itself, circular and a palmspan across. The top of each leaf is a dull dark green and is serrated along the edges. These edges have a reddish tinge to them. The underside of the leaf is a lighter greenish-gray in color with dark red veins. The veins look like tributaries running into a central river that runs out to the stem, which is also a reddish color.

Each spring the Malus produces small pink flowers with four petals and three long white stamens. These flowers cover the smaller branches in such profusion that the tree appears to be a pink cotton ball sitting upon a stick. The flower petals are also roughly round in shape and have an ovule. This ovule produces the fruit of this tree. They usually produce two on a split stem per flower that are a little bigger than a Silverbard. This fruit is firm with a dark yellow skin often peppered with small red dots. The flesh of the fruit is an off-white, which surrounds two small flat seeds. The fruit, known as Malsapple, has itself a strong sour taste.

Territory. This tree can be found mostly close to the coast of the continent of Sarvonia, from the Sharadon Forests in the south to about Eight Winds Bay in the north. It thrives in soil that is somewhat sandy and prefers sunny areas. While the Malus is found mostly along the coast, many orchards have sprung up in the interior as many farmers are starting to grow it as a food crop.

Usages. There are many uses for the fruit of the Malus tree. Mainly the Malsapple is cooked with sugar, which mellows the sour taste, to produce popular jams and jellies. It is often pressed to release the juice, which is mixed with sugar to make a fruit drink. Often this juice is left to sit and it ferments into a weak alcoholic drink known as Cider. This drink is mainly drunk by farmers because of the ease in its making and because it is cheap. It can also be used in cooking, adding a tart taste to what the chef is making.

It must also be noted here that the villagers of Nepris mash the Malsapple and add it to ale imported from the local Thergerim clan, and the concoction has become known as appleale. They say it damps down the strength of dwarven ale, making it more palatable to a human stomach, not to mention slowing down the effects of this strong ale. It is said that the village of Parthanul has taken to this practice too.

Reproduction. Still to be added.