This is one of four very similar species of native wild crabapples listed in eastern North America. It grows from NY thru IL to southern ...Read MoreWI & MI into TN & the Carolinas. Leaves are 2 to 3" long x 1.5" wide. It bears fragrant, pinkish-white flowers about 1.5 to 2" wide in late May or early June, a little later than most crabapples. The twigs are armed with sharp spurs. The greenish-yellow fruit is larger than Oriental Crabapples, being of 1 to 1.5" in diameter, and are tart, but can be used in making jellies or jams. It is a small tree or large shrub, often growing to form thickets. Because it is very susceptible to Apple-Cedar rust Disease,(originally from East Asia), it has declined and is infrequently found in the wild. Oriental Crabapples are invading the wild from cultivation. The more ornamental Oriental Crabapples bear small red or yellow fruit. This native should be used in native, naturalistic landscapes.
In late summer 2015 I found a specimen in southeast PA that was a Sweet Crabapple except that the fruit was larger of 1.5 to 2" wide and a little more yellow; very tart in mid-September. It must have some Common Apple blood in it that can happen, where one can get a hybrid called Bigfruit Sweet Crabapple of Malus x platycarpa or Malus coronaria platycarpa.
This is one of four very similar species of native wild crabapples listed in eastern North America. It grows from NY thru IL to southern ...Read More