Doubleflower Chinese Crabapple – Malus spectabilis ‘Plena’

Doubleflower Chinese Flowering Crabapples are 24 years old [2]

This tree comes to us, as so many things do, from China, where it is  a revered ornamental widely cultivated in the north and east. The ‘Rivers’ variety (see below) has double pink flowers as well. Fruits are large at almost 1 inch diameter [2].

Also called Asiatic apple, the plant is naturalised in North America and used as an ornamental. Some varieties grow to 30 feet with and equal spread. Like all crabs, they like full sun and rich, well-drained soil, but will thrive on crappy sandy or clay soil. And like all crabs, they are in varying degrees subject to the depradations of apple scab, powdery mildew, fire blight and rust.

References

1. Morton Arboretum, Crabapple: A Tree For All Seasons
2. Chinese Flowering Crabapple, Morton Arboretum acc. 419-85*1,2  photos: Bruce Marlin
3. Morton Arboretum, Crabapples for the Home Landscape

Family Rosaceae – Rose Family; Fruit Trees
Containing Hawthorns, Apples, Pears, Cherries, Plums, Peach, Almond, Mountain-Ash and Whitebeam. Rosaceae is a large family of plants with about 3,000 species in ~100 genera. Crabapple and other fruit trees provide some of our most outstanding flowering ornamentals, as well as food for birds and other wildlife.
Tree Encyclopedia | Tree Index | Fruit Tree Index