204 ARISTOCRATS OF THE GARDEN 



to the Pears, and this is followed here. My inten- 

 tion is to tell here of the Crabapples of eastern Asia, 

 but there are also several very beautiful species of 

 Crabapple native of this country — as for example, 

 M. angustifolia, M. fusca, M. glaucescens, M. cor- 

 onaria, M. ioensis and its form, known as the Bechtel 

 Crab, which has large and fragrant double pink flow- 

 ers that look like Roses and excite the interest and ad- 

 miration of all beholders. The American Crab- 

 apples blossom later than their Asiatic relatives and 

 both groups deserve the widest recognition. 



The Siberian (Malm baccata) is the oldest known but 

 one of the Asiatic Crabapples, having been introduced 

 into Europe in 1784. It is a tree from thirty to forty 

 feet tall, with stout, spreading branches and slender 

 branchlets which form a broad rounded or more or 

 less oval crown. The flowers are pure white and 

 delightfully fragrant and are profusely borne in 

 clusters; the fruits are small, yellowish, or yellow- 

 brown. This tree is widely dispersed in the cold nor- 

 thern parts of eastern Siberia and extends southward 

 into Mongolia, Mandshuria, and extreme northern 

 China. It is the most northern of its class and the 

 hardiest of all species of Malus and for this reason 

 ought to be used in the colder parts of this country as 

 a stock for the common Apple. In the littoral regions 



