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The rootstock or understock is the lower portion of a graft from which the roots are formed.

Illustration showing how the scion of a graft becomes the aboveground shoot system of the new plant, while the rootstock becomes the root system below the ground.

Dwarfing rootstocks are available for apple grafts.

These reduce the ultimate size of the mature tree by as much as 70%.

Chart showing a series of different apple grafts, categorizing them as dwarf, semi-dwarf, vigorous, and very vigorous based upon their height as a percentage of a standard tree's height. Malling 27 is the smallest dwarf, being only 30% the size of a standard tree. Malling 9 is a dwarf listed as 40%. Malling 26 and EMLA 9 are shown as 50%. The semi-dwarf category lists Malling 7a as being 60% of a standard tree, while MM106, EMLA 106, and M7EMLA are all 70%. Under the vigorous category MM111, Malling 2, and Malling 25 are listed as 80% of the size of a standard tree. Very vigorous grafts list Antonuka Malling 16, and MM 106 as being 100%.