Western Crab Apple 



433 



pressed-globosc, 2.5 to 3.5 cm. in diameter, 2 cm. high, the basal hollow broad and 

 shallow; it is yellowish green and fragrant, covered by a sticky secretion; flesh 

 firm, translucent and very acid; seeds large, oval and dark brown. 



The wood is very similar to that of the Narrow-leaved crab, except that it is 

 heavier, its specific gravity about 0.70. The fruit is also used for jellies and for 

 cider, and, hke the former species, it is a most desirable ornamental small tree. 



3. WESTERN CRAB APPLE Malus ioensis (Wood) Britton 

 Pyriis coronaria ioensis Wood. Pyrus ioensis Bailey 



A small tree with stout spreading branches, resembhng the preceding species. 

 It is the common Crab apple of the central States, from Minnesota and Wisconsin 

 south to Kentucky and Texas. Its maxi- 

 mum height is 9 meters, with a trunk 

 diameter of 4.5 dm. 



The bark is about 9 mm. thick and 

 broken up into elongated, persistent 

 scales of a red-brown color; the twigs 

 are densely white-woolly when young, 

 becoming nearly smooth, dark gray or 

 brown; the leaves are rather thick and 

 firm, ovate or oblong, 3 to 8 cm. long, 

 blunt or pointed at the apex, narrowed 

 or rounded at the base, blunt- toothed, 

 scalloped or somewhat lobed on the mar- 

 gin, white-woolly, becoming dark green 

 and smooth above, but remaining pale 

 and woolly beneath; leaf-stalk stout, 

 hair}% 2 to 5 cm. long. The flowers, ap- 

 pearing in April or May, are 4 to 5 cm. 



Fig. 379. Western Crab Apple. 



across, on slender, hairy pedicels 2.5 to 3.5 cm. long; calyx-tube white- woolly, as 

 are its narrow, sharp-pointed lobes; styles united and hairy for some distance 

 from the base. The fruit is borne on a stout, hairy stalk 2 to 4 cm. long; it is de- 

 pressed-globose, 3 to 5 cm. in diameter, 2.5 to 3.5 cm. high, with the persistent 

 calyx in a shallow depression, the basal hollow narrow; it is yellow-green, fragrant, 

 and sour. 



The Western crab apple is one of the handsomest of the American crab apples, 

 and should be more frequently planted in parks and large gardens. A double- 

 flowered form, known as Bechtel's crab, is a magnificent object, with its large, 

 double rose-colored flowers, and is often seen in our parks and gardens. 



