Plantae > Tracheophyta > Magnoliopsida > Rosales > Rosaceae > Malus > Malus prunifolia

Malus prunifolia (crab apple)

Synonyms:

Wikipedia Abstract

Malus prunifolia is a species of crabapple tree known by the common names plumleaf crab apple, plum-leaved apple, pear-leaf crabapple, Chinese apple and Chinese crabapple. It is native to China, and is grown elsewhere for use as an ornamental tree or as rootstock. It reaches from between 3 and 8 meters tall and bears white flowers and yellow or red fruit. It was described botanically by Willd. in the genus Pyrus, and transferred to Malus in 1803 to produce the nomenclatural treatment used here.
View Wikipedia Record: Malus prunifolia

Infraspecies

Pyrus prunifolia var. prunifolia

Attributes

Air Quality Improvement [1]  Low
Allergen Potential [1]  Medium-Low
Carbon Capture [1]  Low
Shade Percentage [1]  85 %
Temperature Reduction [1]  Low
Wind Reduction [1]  Low
Edible [2]  May be edible. See the Plants For A Future link below for details.
Flower Type [2]  Hermaphrodite
Hazards [2]  All members of this genus contain the toxin hydrogen cyanide in their seeds and possibly also in their leaves, but not in their fruits. Hydrogen cyanide is the substance that gives almonds their characteristic taste but it should only be consumed in very small quantities. Apple seeds do not normally contain very high quantities of hydrogen cyanide but, even so, should not be consumed in very large quantities. In small quantities, hydrogen cyanide has been shown to stimulate respiration and improve digestion, it is also claimed to be of benefit in the treatment of cancer. In excess, however, it can cause respiratory failure and even death.
Leaf Type [2]  Deciduous
Lifespan [3]  Perennial
Pollinators [2]  Insects, Lepidoptera
Structure [2]  Tree
Usage [2]  This species is an excellent stock for grafting apple trees;
Height [2]  26 feet (8 m)
Width [2]  26 feet (8 m)
Hardiness Zone Minimum [1]  USDA Zone: 4 Low Temperature: -30 F° (-34.4 C°) → -20 F° (-28.9 C°)
Hardiness Zone Maximum [1]  USDA Zone: 8 Low Temperature: 10 F° (-12.2 C°) → 20 F° (-6.7 C°)
Water Use [1]  Moderate
View Plants For A Future Record : Malus prunifolia

Protected Areas

Name IUCN Category Area acres Location Species Website Climate Land Use
Shenandoah National Park II 108221 Virginia, United States

Predators

Eriosoma lanigerum (Woolly apple aphid)[4]
Leucoptera scitella[5]
Pheucticus melanocephalus (Black-headed Grosbeak)[6]
Reticulaphis inflata[4]

External References

USDA Plant Profile

NatureServe Explorer

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
♦ 1i-Tree Species v. 4.0, developed by the USDA Forest Service's Northern Research Station and SUNY-ESF using the Horticopia, Inc. plant database.
♦ 2Plants For A Future licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
♦ 3USDA Plants Database, U. S. Department of Agriculture
♦ 4Biological Records Centre Database of Insects and their Food Plants
♦ 5HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants Gaden S. Robinson, Phillip R. Ackery, Ian J. Kitching, George W. Beccaloni AND Luis M. Hernández
♦ 6NOTES ON THE DIET OF THE CRIMSON-COLLARED GROSBEAK (RHODOTHRAUPIS CELAENO) IN NORTHEASTERN MEXICO, Jack Clinton Eitniear & Alvaro Aragon Tapia, ORNITOLOGIA NEOTROPICAL 11: 363–364, 2000
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0