WILD CRAB APPLE; FRAGRANT CRAB (Mains coronaria, 

 Mill.). Shrub to 30 feet. Bushy, low tree with rigid branches 

 and thorny, angular twigs. Bark brown, scaly. Wood red- 

 dish brown, heavy, fine-grained, weak, used for levers and the 

 handles of tools; also fuel. Leaves ovate or triangular, 3 to 4 

 inches long, hah* as wide, blunt, sharply serrate, often lobed 

 slightly near base, velvety underneath. Flowers like single 

 roses, white to rose-pink, spicy fragrant, 1 to 2 inches across, 

 after leaves open, May, in umbels, 5- to 6-flowered. Fruit a 

 small, flattened, yellow, hard-fleshed, sour apple, with piquant 

 flavor. Dist.: Ontario to Minnesota; Atlantic States and 

 along Alleghenies to South Carolina and Alabama and Texas; 

 Nebraska southward. Ornamental, flowering tree. Apples 

 made into jelly and preserves. 



154 



