#TREES WITH LOBED LEAVES FREE#

They tend to persist well into winter, making a great fall and winter food source for resident birds.Īll sizes may be more or less round, or they may be oval or otherwise elongated (oblong, etc.). They are so small they are often incorrectly referred to as berries. These are rarely grown for cooking due to their small size and tart flavor, but they come in a wide range of colors and are quite ornamental. Small or pea-sized crabapples do not exceed about ¼”. Birds and other wildlife love to feed on these. They tend to be quite tart and are usually grown more ornamentally but are still occasionally used in cooking and ciders. Medium-sized crabapples are in the ½” to 1” range, about the size of a cherry. These ones are too big for most birds to eat, but deer and bears will often eat them. These ones are often grown by those who harvest the apples for eating fresh or use in cider, jams, and cooking. Large-fruit crabapples are often easily identified by their large pomes (1 – 2”). Images by Lyrae Willis, Own Work – for Tree VitalizeĬrabapple pomes vary significantly in size, color, shape, and taste between the different species and cultivars, and this is an excellent tool to help identify the different types of crabapples.Ĭrabapples are defined by having pomes that rarely exceed 2”. The description of the petal color can help identify some of the cultivars. Others have two-tone petals with two or more different shades of pink. Often pink-flowered varieties have petals that are a lighter shade of pink, but they have much darker pink veins throughout them. Some cultivars have longer or shorter claws, and sometimes the claws are a different color than the rest of the petals. It looks like a stalk that holds the petal however, it is actually still part of the petal. Clawed petals narrow at their base where it attaches to the receptacle. Stamens are the conspicuous male organs of the flower consisting of a stalk or filament topped with an anther (the pollen-producing organ).Īll crabapple flowers tend to have petals that are clawed. Pink crabapple flowers tend to have pink stamens and anthers. White crabapple flowers tend to have white stamens with yellow or brown anthers. The presence of extra petals is an excellent way to help identify certain cultivars.Ĭrabapple flowers are usually white, pink, or red and are often very fragrant. Semi-double flowers typically have 6 – 10 petals per flower, and double flowers have 10 or more petals per flower. Many newer cultivars are becoming available that have semi-double or double flowers. Single does not refer to them being borne singly and not in a group (inflorescence). Sometimes flowers with four petals are seen, but the same tree typically has mostly five-petaled flowers.Ĭultivars are often described as having single flowers because they have the usual five petals. This is typical of the entire Rosaceae family.

#TREES WITH LOBED LEAVES FREE#

Flowers appear in the early to mid-spring and usually appear when the leaves begin to emerge.Ĭrabapples all have bisexual flowers (containing both male and female organs in the same flower) with five free petals that are not joined into a tube. Identifying Crabapple Trees by Their FlowersĪll crabapple flowers are typically arranged in tight clusters or inflorescences called corymbs that are typically held closely against the branches.

The Pacific Crabapple, in particular, possesses natural genetic resistance to fireblight and powdery mildew and should be grown more in its native range. However, I also include two native North American crabapples, which I strongly encourage you to grow if you live in their native range. Since most people will mostly encounter cultivars when looking at crabapples, I will focus here on some of the more popular, newer, and unique cultivars. As a result, their parentage has often been lost along the way due to multiple crossings, and many now are simply described as Malus x ‘Cultivar name’.

The four species native to North America are the Sweet Crab ( Malus coronaria), Pacific Crabapple ( Malus fusca), Prairie Crabapple ( Malus ioensis), and Southern Crabapple ( Malus angustifolia).Ĭrabapples are prone to several common diseases that have resulted in widespread breeding to develop resistant cultivars over the last century. Some are also created from North American species. Most crabapples are cultivars bred from the Chinese Flowering Crab ( Malus spectabilis), Tea Crabapple ( Malus pumila), Siberian crabapple ( Malus baccata), Toringo crabapple ( Malus sieboldii), and Japanese flowering crabapple (Malus floribunda). Some are very small, never exceeding ¼” in diameter. There are multiple species that they are derived from, including the large domestic apple, Malus domestica.īasically, a crab apple is simply an apple whose fruit rarely exceeds 2” in diameter. Crabapple Tree Identification (With Photos)Ĭrabapples are not from a single species.

Trees with lobed leaves