Crabapple

Malus cv.

Rosaceae (Rose Family)

▲▼ white flowering cultivar and flowers

▲▼ red-flowering cultivar and flowers

▲▼ white/pink flowering cultivar and flowers

▲▼ pink-flowering cultivar and flowers

▲▼ var. sargentii and flowers

▲ weeping cultivar

▲ larger-fruited cultivar

▲ mature tree habit

▲▼ bark on young and older trees

▲ many trees had little damage after severe ice storm in Springfield, MO in 2007

Location on Missouri State University campus:  on either side of MSU seal on east side of Carrington  Hall; by west entrance to Karls Hall; many other locations

Malus cv.: Crabapples

·         leaves alternate, simple, deciduous, ovate, with serrate margins and short petiole; dark green, glossy on top, lighter green and sometimes pubescent underneath; 1-3" long and 2/3 as wide

·         stems slender, yellow-green to golden-brown to red to reddish-brown and purplish-brown, light lenticels, glabrous or glaucous

·         bark gray-brown to tan, scaly

·         grows 15-25' tall in upright oval to rounded to broad-spreading habit; often branching within a few feet of the ground; most cultivars are grafted, some are rooted cuttings

·         flowers white, pink to red; fruit is a red, orange, yellow, greenish or purplish pome, 1/4" - 2" diameter (larger than 2" is considered an apple); flowers on previous season's growth

·         prefers full sun and moist, well-drained soils with acid pH; prune out root suckers and water sprouts from older branches before June; good to prune as with apple trees to develop good branching habit for long life of tree

·         prone to many diseases, particulary apple scab, cedar-apple rust, fireblight:   best to select cultivars with some resistance to these diseases-- see textbooks, extension guides and internet websites on crabapples for recommended cultivars

·         medium growth rate

·         some native to Missouri