Crab apple
Common name: Crab apple
Scientific name: Malus sylvestris
Family: Rosaceae
Special
Crab
apple trees are quite uncommon in the wild. It is always difficult to
distinguish them from the domesticated apple, due to cross-breeding.
The development of the domesticated apple began at the end of the Stone Age. This has lead to a great many varieties available to us today.
Bats use old crab apple tree as daytime accommodation. It also provides food for many insects and small animals.
Leaves
Leaves
are alternate with a crooked and pointed tip. They vary in shape from
round to oval.
The underside of the leaves are smooth but can also be hairy, but not so much as the cultivated trees.
Flowers
The
flowers are white and might be tinged with pink. They appear in April
and May, having 5 petals.
Crab apple flowers cannot be self-pollinated (by flowers from the same tree). It is nessessary to have another crab apple tree that can provide the pollen. This is carried from tree to tree by bees and other insects.
Fruits
Crab
apple fruits are very small and normally green, ripening to yellow.
They are less than 3.5cm in diameter and have a long stalk. It is by the fruit that you can best identify a crab apple - in fact, they are almost like cherries in shape and size. They are very sour to the taste.
Bark
The
bark is greyish and rough. As the tree grows and the trunk expands, fissures
or cracks appear in the bark. Despite this the timber is very water resistant.
In fact, part of the foundations of Venice are built from this timber.
Habitat
Crab
apple seems to be a relict of our old oak woodlands. It is a specialist
tree that needs a soil rich in nutrients and that contains lime (alkaline).
The tree needs to grow in a bright, but sheltered place. It prefers damp areas on the edge of woodlands. Nowadays it more commonly grows in hedges, woodland edges and on riverbanks.