172 FLOWERS OF THE ROADSIDES AND HEDGES 



Crab Apple (Pyrus Malus, L.) 



Not a trace of this plant has been found where fruits of Mountain 

 Ash have been found. It is a northern temperate plant, occurring 

 generally throughout Europe, Western Asia, as far east as the 

 Himalayas. In Great Britain it is absent from Monmouth, Cardigan, 

 Denbigh, Haddington, the E. Highlands, except South Perth, and 

 is not found in Main Argyle, Dumbarton, Mid and N. Ebudes, nor 

 N. Highlands or the Northern Isles, except in E. Ross. It is often 

 an escape from cultivation. It is native in Ireland and the Channel 

 Islands. 



The Wild Crab is a plant of the woods and copses, but is also 

 found frequently in hedgerows or in parks, where it sometimes grows 

 to a good height. It is associated with plants such as Field Maple, 

 Hawthorn, Wild Cherry, Buckthorn, Cornel, and other small-timbered 

 trees and shrubs. Often it is just a reversion to type of the garden 

 apple. 



The apple has a leaning habit, much as in poplars, but is more 

 erect and symmetrical, a main stem dividing into numerous, finally 

 small, drooping, and spreading branches. The Crab is a small tree, 

 20-25 ft. high. The branches spread out equally, forming a wide 

 crown. The stock is short, giving rise to numerous branches, which 

 repeatedly divide. Two varieties are known, the var. acerba (or syl- 

 vestris] having a glabrous fruit-stalk, the var. mitis having a downy 

 fruit-stalk. The Crab Apple is in flower for 5-6 days in April and 

 May, and as a deciduous tree is perennial, and propagated by seeds. 



The resting buds have a few scales, and the lateral buds are closely 

 appressed. The buds produce three types of shoots: (a) long shoots, 

 with distant leaves; (6) non-flowering dwarf shoots of slow growth, with 

 annular markings and leaves close together; (c) flowering dwarf shoots 

 or spurs, arising from the stouter branches and producing flowers. 



The leaves are spiral in arrangement, simple, with short minute 

 stipules. The leaf-stalk is slender and long. The blade is sharp- 

 tipped, with marginal teeth. The surface is glossy above. The trunk 

 is irregularly ridged with grey-brown furrowed bark, scaling with ease. 

 The flowers are white, tinged with pink, and have 5 united sepals, 

 hairy above. The petals have rounded limbs and narrow claws. The 

 numerous stamens enclose the disk, which secretes honey. The anthers 

 are cream colour. The style is divided into 5 branches. The fruit is 

 an apple, with the persistent calyx above. The ovary is 5-chambered, 



