Pink Crabapple
Small deciduous tree with brilliant pink cup-like flowers in the spring, orange-red leaves in the fall, and bright red berries well into winter, thus adding color to the landscape year-round.
| Botanical name | Malus ‘Adams’ |
| English names | Crabapple |
| Nederlandse naam | Sierappel |
| Indian names |
Characteristics
| Native habitat | temperate zone of the Northern Hemisphere | |||
| Plant Type | tree | |||
| Bloom time | spring | Fall color | leaves turn a brilliant orange-red in the fall | |
| Fruit | has bright red berries well into winter, offering food for birds when food is otherwise scarce | |||
| Uses | used to make jams and jellies, herbal medicine (see details below) |
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Special notes
Although identified here as genus Malus and species “Adams”, it is interesting to note that this genus has cross-pollinated so much that just looking at a tree in the wild, it is nearly impossible to identify its species!
Crabapples are self-sterile, and thus completely rely on insect pollinators to transport their pollen. Despite this, crabapples cross-pollinate often and have hybridized over generations to the point where a distinct species within the genus cannot be identified.
https://naturewalk.yale.edu/trees/rosaceae/malus-x/crabapple-tree-32
Uses of crabapple
As food: Its fruit, flowers and leaves can be eaten. Flowers and leaves picked in Apr/May can be used in teas. Fruit can be harvested/picked in Oct/Nov, and cooked into jams and jellies. High in Vitamin C.
Herbal medicine: In modern herbal medicine, Crab Apple is a cleansing tonic used to treat stomach and bowel disorders, diarrhoea, and perhaps to a lesser extent today, to treat scabies.
https://www.eatweeds.co.uk/crab-apple-malus-sylvestris