This story is part of the Landscape News series Forgotten Forests.
Millions of years ago, in the temperate montane forests of a little-known region in Central Asia, some of the world’s best-loved fruit and nut trees began to grow. Apples, apricots, cherries, plums, grapes, figs, peaches, pomegranates, pears, almonds, pistachios and walnuts all originated in the hills and valleys of the Tian Shan mountain range, which stretches from Uzbekistan in the west to China and Mongolia in the east.
The area is volcanic and geologically tumultuous, but fertile – scientists have hypothesized that in a place prone to frequent eruptions, earthquakes and landslides, shorter-lived tree species that could disperse their seeds widely by making themselves palatable to large mammals had a better shot at survival than long-lived, slow-maturing trees.
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