CRAB APPLES 



CRAB APPLES 



species, however, which some authorities prefer 

 to divide into two or more specific groups. It 

 is probable that cultivated apples have come 

 from two distinct species, possibly three, but 

 these have been so fused by hybridization that 

 it is now impossible to separate cultivated 

 varieties into species. The best that can be 

 done is to divide the species into several 

 botanical varieties to which the pomological 

 varieties may be referred, but even this cannot 

 be done with the precision that might be 

 wished. Of the many botanical varieties de- 

 scribed by various authors, but three are de- 

 limited with sufficient exactness to make them 

 useful to the pomological student. These 



Var. sylvestris, Linn. Characterized by glabrous 

 shoots and leaves whereas those in the type species are 

 pubescent ; the calyx-lobes are glabrous outside but 

 pubescent within. The habitat of the variety is West 

 and Central Europe. The distinction between this 

 variety and the type species would be hardly worth 

 making, were it not that some European botanists give 

 it the rank of a species and refer several pomological 

 varieties to it. 



Var. pumila, Henry. To this botanical variety, de- 

 scribed as a species by some authors, most of the 

 cultivated apples are now referred. The trees are large 

 or small, sometimes bush-like, with the young branches, 

 pedicels, calyx-tube, both surfaces of the calyx-lobes and 

 the under surface of the leaves prominently tomentose. 

 The Paradise and Doucin apples, used as dwarfing stocks, 

 are probably dwarf forms of Var. pumila. This botanical 

 variety is native to southeastern Europe and western 

 Asia, although found wild as an escape wherever the 

 apple is cultivated. 



Var. astracanica, Loud. It is probable that several 

 pomological varieties belong to this botanical variety, 

 which is characterized by large, coarsely serrate or double 

 serrate leaves, tomentose beneath, and by the long 

 pedicels ; it is a native of Asia. 



In the descriptions of the species and its 

 varieties, statements of habitat were made; 

 these need to be amplified. P. Mains has been 

 known as a wild plant in temperate Europe 

 and Asia throughout historic times, but un- 

 questionably its fruits were used long before 

 history began, and, no doubt also, the plants 

 were distributed by the prehistoric dwellers 

 in the two continents. Students of the origin 

 of cultivated plants now believe the species 

 to be indigenous in the northwestern Himalayas, 

 where there are vast forests of wild apples 

 ascending the mountains to a height of nine 

 to ten thousand feet in regions to which man 

 could hardly have introduced the plant. 



The apple has been cultivated from remote 

 times in India, Cashmere, and northern China. 

 Carbonized apples are found in the ancient 

 lake habitations of Switzerland, showing that 

 they must have been known in Europe by pre- 

 historic peoples. The apple is mentioned by 

 the earliest writers on agriculture in China, 

 India, Greece, Italy, France, Germany, and 

 England. It was introduced by the first col- 

 onists in all temperate parts of the New World. 

 It is now the most valuable fruit-plant of the 

 temperate regions of the world, and by se- 

 lection and hybridization several thousand 

 varieties have been obtained. The apple is 

 cultivated in all agricultural regions of the 

 United States excepting in subtropical parts of 

 the Gulf states and California. 



CRAB-APPLES 



There seems to be little question that the 

 crab-apples of most common cultivation, rep- 

 resented by such varieties as Martha, Hyslop, 

 and Transcendent, are hybrids between two 

 species, P. baccata and P. Mains, though these 

 hybrids are often put in a separate species, 

 P. prunifolia. The Siberian crabs, of which 

 several named varieties are cultivated, un- 

 doubtedly belong to a distinct species now to 

 be described, 



2. Pyrus baccata, Linn. Siberian Crab. Plant a 

 small round-headed tree attaining a height of 30-40 feet, 

 with a trunk 10-12 inches in diameter, which divides 

 into many rather slender branches forming a compact 

 head ; vigorous, hardy and productive ; wood hard and 

 tough, bark much less rough and tree smoother in all of 

 its parts than in the common apple. Leaves ovate, ovate- 

 lanceolate or ovate-acuminate, thin, glabrous, bright 

 green ; petioles slender ; margins finely and evenly 

 serrate. Flowers large, white, very fragrant, handsome ; 

 appearing with the leaves ; pedicels very slender, green- 

 ish ; style usually longer than the stamens, glabrous or 

 lightly pubescent ; calyx-lobes long, narrow acuminate ; 

 calyx falling away before maturity. Fruit from %-l 

 inch in diameter, yellow or red ; borne on long, hard 

 slender stems ; basin shallow or none, often wrinkled 

 or having mammiform protuberances ; flesh yellow, very 

 firm, subacid, astringent, translucent. Seeds small, 

 short, wide, obtuse, dark brown. 



There are several botanical forms of P. bac- 

 cata, but to which of these the cultivated crab- 

 apples belong is a mooted question. No doubt 

 there are a number of natural hybrids, as there 

 certainly are of artificial ones. Hybrid and 

 pure-bred crab-apples, cultivated for their 

 fruits, number two score or more, and probably 

 a much greater number of named varieties, 

 the world over, are grown as named ornamen- 

 tals. 



The crab-apple probably came originally 

 from Siberia, northern China, and Manchuria, 

 but has been cultivated for its fruit and flowers 

 in China and Japan from time immemorial. 

 The Chinese and Japanese have developed 

 many forms differing in plant, fruit, and 

 flower, more particularly in the flowers, these 

 being of many colors, various sizes, and in all 

 degrees of doubling. The Siberian crab-apple 

 is the hardiest of the tree-fruits, grows with 

 great rapidity, thrives in many soils, and 

 bears year after year with increasing abun- 

 dance. 



This species was early introduced into Eu- 

 rope, although little grown until the last cen- 

 tury for its fruit. While it may have come 

 earlier as an ornamental, it seems not to be 

 mentioned as a fruit-tree in America until 

 toward the close of the eighteenth century, and 

 since nurserymen did not list crab-apples until 

 toward the middle of the nineteenth century, 

 this fruit must be looked on as comparatively 

 a newcomer. 



But few of the cultivated crabs of American 

 orchards are pure-bred to the species, most of 

 them being hybrids with P. Mains. These 

 hybrid crabs are most valuable additions to 

 the apple-flora of the whole country, and, 

 because of great hardiness, promise much for 

 cold regions. The species does not thrive as 

 well as might be wished in southern apple re- 



