WILD SWEET CRAB 



Malus coronaria (Linnaeus) Miller 



What sweeter blossoms are to be found in spring than those of the 

 wild sweet crab ? It is usually a low bushy tree, growing perhaps twenty 

 feet high, with tangled branches making a flat top, quite inconspicuous 

 in its wild surroundings. But when early spring is past, and the bushes 

 are masses of tender green, the pink buds appear, and soon the whole is 

 covered with lovely flowers, whose sweet scent is wafted far on every 

 gentle breeze. The fruit, also, is sweet-scented, and can be made into a 

 delicious jelly. 



The wild sweet crab is a native of the Central States, extending from 

 Louisiana and Alabama northward to Michigan and Ontario, but in 

 cultivation over a much wider range. 



This specimen was collected near Washington, District of Columbia. 



PLATE 51 



