108 THE STORY OF PLANT LIFE 
CrAB APPLE (Pyrus Malus). 
The Crab Apple is a common plant which is found 
in all parts of the British Isles except in a few 
counties in Wales and Scotland. 
Woods and copses are the usual habitat of the Crab 
Apple. It is also to-day commonly found in hedges 
by the wayside, where it is, like the rest of the hedge 
plants, always planted, unless it comes up, as it may 
do, spontaneously. Similarly it is frequent in the 
hedges of fields and meadows, where it is allowed to 
grow to the size of a tree. 
Sometimes a few trees may grow in the open, where 
in some cases they are the remains of former hedges. 
Solitary trees are often to be found in parks, where 
they are often ancient and well-developed. The 
common associates of the Crab in the hedgerow 
are Hawthorn, Elder, Sloe, Rose, Bramble, Cornel, 
Guelder Rose. 
It may frequently near villages be a reversion of 
the cultivated apple to a wild state. 
The trunk is straight, with thin, rimose bark. Very 
often it has a decided list. It is usually more or less 
erect, and symmetrical in habit. The main stem 
divides into numerous smaller branches some distance 
from the ground, which are spreading and drooping. 
The leaves are ovate, simple, serrate, acuminate, 
smooth or downy. | 
The flowers are white or pink, and sweet-scented, 
there being two varieties. They are arranged in sessile 
