Pratt Crabapple – Malus prattii

Pratt Crabapple – Malus prattii

color photo Pratt Crabapple blossoms

Crabapples (Malus) are the most stunning of spring flowering trees for Midwest landscapes and are a great choice for the home garden. Many of them are small in stature and can maintain visual interest throughout the changing seasons (spring flowers, fall fruit, textured bark and craggy branches in winter).

There are about 55 different species in the genus Malus, and there are innumerable cultivars available in the landscape trade. The Arboretum’s Crabapple Collection was started in 1924. Part of this collection on the West Side participated in the National Crabapple Evaluation Program which evaluated new and disease-resistant varieties. As a result of the multi-year evaluation and additions, it has transformed into the West Side Malus collection which now contains 60 different kinds and over 140 specimens with highly desirable qualities.

color photo pratt crabapple tree in bloom

Pratt Crabapple is 37 years old [2]  descendant from wild stock collected near Maoxian, China (Zhonghua) [5]

Some of the specimens in this collection are almost large enough to be considered shade trees, while others are quite small. There is a great variety of shape as well, from wide to upright and narrow, weeping, and multi-stemmed. There is variety in flower color, ranging from white to pink, red, purple, and crimson. Some flower buds will be one color, and then open up to a completely different color! Fruits range in size from smaller than a pea, to nearly the size of most apples; they can be red, purple, orange, yellow, or green. Some of the smaller fruits persist on the tree throughout winter, providing a splash of color in the cold months. [1]

References

  1. Morton Arboretum, Crabapple: A Tree For All Seasons
  2. Pratt Crabapple – Malus prattii, Morton Arboretum acc. 660-72*2, photos: Bruce J. Marlin
  3. Morton Arboretum, Crabapples for the Home Landscape
  4. USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program. (GRIN), Malus prattii
  5. Morton Arboretum Online Collections Scientific Name Lookup, Malus prattii

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