PRAIRIE \itii: 



Mains ioircnsis (Wood) Hrltton 



The Apple Familj 



POMACEAE 



Habit and Habitat: A small tree, 20-30 feet high, with a trunk 

 uneter of 8-18 inches, frequently a low, scraggly Bhrub; nun 

 ut, spreading branches forming a broad, rounded crown, the lateral 

 twigs often armed with numerous, coarse spm< spur-like brand 



Prefers the rich, moist, well-drained soils in our eastern Nebraska 

 woodlands, especially along the banks of streams where it may occa- 

 nally form small thickets. 



Leaves and Buds: Leaves alternate, simple, ovate, oblong, acute 

 rounded at the apex, acute or rounded at the base, 8-4 inches long and 

 about half as broad, sharply and deeply serrate, sometimes lobed. hoary- 

 hairy when they unfold from the bud. becoming nearly smooth, thick 

 ami firm, dark green and shiny above, pah- yeTlowish- gi eon and fine- 

 hairy beneath, turning yellow in autumn before they fall, petioles stout, 

 more or less hairy, especially at first, 1-1% inches long. Buds minute. 

 obtuse, with bright red or brownish scales, more or less hairy. 



Flowers and Fruits: Flowers appearing in May when the lea. 

 are about full grown, l%-2 inches wide when fully expanded, on slender 

 hairy pedicels about 1 inch long, or in few-flowered clusters; calyx urn- 

 shaped, coated with thick snow-white hairs, sepals 5, greenish, hairy on 

 the inner surface; petals 5, inserted on the edge of the calyx tube, white 

 01 bright pink, obovate, very fragrant; stamens many, on the calyx mar- 

 gin: styles ."), slender; ovary hairy. Fruit mature in October, a greenish- 

 yellow, fragrant but bitter apple, 1-1 1 •> inches in diameter, borne on stout. 

 more or less hairy stalks about 1 inch long, edible when cooked. 



Bark. Twigs and Wood: Twigs at first white-hairy, smooth or 

 slightly hairy, bright reddish-brown, marked by scattered, pale sp 

 or specks in the first winter. Bark becoming 1 t - 1 ., inch thick, and 

 breaking into lon*r, narrow, persistent, reddish-brown scales, and be- 

 coming more or less deeply fissured. The wood is heavy, soft, close- 

 erained. weak, reddish-brown, with thick yellowish or light brown sap- 

 wood. 



Distribution in the State: This western crab-apple or prairie crab, 

 as we have called it. is widely distributed in the Mississippi valley from 

 the Gulf <>f Mexico to central Minnesota, being abundant in Missouri 

 bom the forests of which it has extended its range into Nebraska along 

 the Missouri river to the mouth of the Niobrara, thence westward to 

 Brown county: it has also followed the Nemaha to county and 



the Platte to Butler county. There are two or three other wild apples, 

 closely related to the above species, which are found farther eastward. 



Remarks: All of our wild American apples produce very fra- 



int flowers and in some of them the fruits are also quite fragrant. 



The trees of this, the only native Nebraska apple, are WOndroUSly 



beautiful when in full bloom, and the fragrance may be carried for a 



ble dist Ml the tree so that the tree is a rather popular 



one for ornamental planting in small g a rdens and Bhrubb The 



fruits an rionally used in making preserves and jelly. The Bechtel 



b is a recently introduced form of this tree which produces lar 

 double, r lored flowers, and Is widely cultivated as an ornamental 



in the east and south. 



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