|
| Name |
Malus
-
Rudolph - Crab Apple |
| Cultivation |
Grow in moderately fertile, moist but well-drained soil in full sun, although
some shade is tolerated. Purple-leaved forms of Malus colour best in full
sun. It is Self Fertile.
|
| Family |
Rosaceae |
| Genus |
Malus
is a genus of about 30-35 species of small deciduous trees or shrubs in
the family Rosaceae, including the domesticated Orchard or Table Apple. |
| Synonyms |
Crab
Apple |
| Known
Hazards |
None
Known |
| Range |
|
| Height |
The
adult height on average is around 20ft x 12ft (6m x 3.7m) in 20 years, ultimate
height 20-25ft (6-7.6m). |
| Habitat |
All
very cold hardy. Most like full sun and are tolerant of a wide range of
soil conditions. |
| Characteristics |
Small,
upright deciduous tree with outstanding leaf colouration, bronze red when
young turning to dark bronze green. Very deep rose-red flower buds opening
to rose-red flowers nearly 2 inches (5cm) across. Orange-yellow apples
persit well into autumn.
Apple trees are small,
typically 4-12 m tall at maturity, with a dense, twiggy crown. The leaves
are 3-10 cm long, alternate, simple, with a serrated margin. The flowers
are borne in corymbs , and have five petals, which may be white, pink
or red, and are perfect, with usually red stamens that produce copious
pollen, flowering occurs in the spring after 50-80growing days. |
| Edible
Uses |
The
fruit of the crabapple species is not an important crop, being extremely
sour and (in some species) woody, and is rarely eaten raw for this reason.
However, crabapples are extra rich in pectin, and their juice can be made
into a ruby-coloured jelly with a full, spicy flavour. A small percentage
of crab apples in cider makes a more interesting flavour. |
| Medicinal
Uses |
An
Apple a day Keeps the Doctor Away! (So they say!) |
| Other
Uses |
Some
crab apples are used as rootstocks for domestic apples to add beneficial
characteristics. For example, Siberian crab rootstock is often used to give
additional cold hardiness to the combined plant for orchards in cold northern
areas. They are also used as pollenizers in apple orchards. Varieties of
crab apple are selected to bloom contemporaneously with the apple variety
in an orchard planting, and the crabs are planted every sixth or seventh
tree, or limbs of crab are grafted onto some of the apple trees. In emergencies
a bucket or drum bouquet of crab apple flowering branches are placed near
the beehives as orchard pollenizers. |
| Propagation |
Apples
require cross-pollination between individuals by insects (typically bees,
which freely visit the flowers for both nectar and pollen); all are self-sterile,
and self-pollination is impossible making pollinating insects essential.
The honeybee is the most effective pollinator of apples. Malus species,
including domestic apples, hybridise freely. |
| Cultivars |
Crabapple
fruit are mostly red, but some, such as the cultivar 'Golden Hornet', are
yellow Crabapples are widely grown as ornamental trees, grown for their
beautiful flowers or fruit, with numerous cultivars selected for these qualities
and for resistance to disease. |
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