If I asked you what variety of apple is definitely American, would you guess the MacIntosh?

You’d be wrong, but understandably so. Actually, the Macintosh — named for John Macintosh who discovered and named the variety the “MacIntosh Red” in Ontario — is a Canadian apple.

MacIntosh, who was forced to leave the United States in the 1770s because he was a British loyalist, found 20 young apple trees while clearing some land in 1796. He moved them closer to his house, but by 1830 only one tree survived. It produced apples for years.

Then, in 1893, the MacIntosh house caught fire and the tree, standing 15 feet away, was badly burned on one side. The healthy side of the tree continued to produce apples until 1908. Meanwhile, McIntosh’s son, Allan, had begun grafting parts of the tree so it could be grown elsewhere and by others.

So what is the indigenous American apple?

According to apple fact-checkers at Walmart, only the crabapple is native to North America. (Of course, that could mean they originated in Canada, too.) Today, 2,500 varieties of apples are grown in the United States.

New York state is second in apple-producing states in the United States, second only to Washington.

Other apple oddments:

The reason apples float? They’re 25 percent air.

Apples help prevent prostate cancer and cut the risk of bladder cancer as well as slowing down age-related problems. They also help protect post-menopausal women from osteoporosis.

There are 7,500 varieties of apples grown throughout the world. That means you could eat a different apple every day for 20 years and never eat the same kind twice.

With temperatures dipping to freezing and below early today, I’m thinking the season for baking is upon us. For the Barefoot Contessa’s recipe for apple turnovers, click here.

Have a favorite recipe to share? E-mail us at foodforum@dailygazette.net.