Complimentary 
NEW SERIES VOL. VIII 
NO. 7 
ARNOLD ARBORETUM 
HARVARD UNIVERSITY 
BULLETIN 
OF 
POPULAR INFORMATION 
JAMAICA PLAIN, MASS. MAY 23. 1922 
American Crabapples. Following the last of the eastern Asiatic 
Crabapples, Malus Sargentii and M. Sieboldii, which were covered with 
flowers the end of last week, some of the American species are in 
bloom. Nine species of these trees are now recognized, with several 
varieties and two hybrids. They have white or pink fragrant flowers 
which do not open until the leaves are partly or nearly entirely grown, and 
green or pale yellow fragrant fruit which hangs on slender stems and, 
with the exception of that of the species from the northwestern part 
of the country is depressed globose, usually broader than high, and 
usually from an inch to two and a half inches in diameter and covered 
with a waxy secretion. All the species spread into thickets and are 
excellent plants for the decoration of wood-borders and glades. Some 
of the species have only been distinguished in recent years, and although 
the species and many of the varieties are now growing in the Arbore- 
tum several of these have not yet flowered, and most of these Crab- 
apples cannot be found in commercial nurseries. 
Malus glaucescens, which is named from the pale glaucous color of 
the under surface of the leaves, is the first of the American species 
to flower here and has been blooming for more than a week. It is a 
shrub usually rather than a tree, not more than fifteen feet high, with 
stems four or five inches in diameter. The flowers are white or rose 
color, up to an inch and a half in diameter, and the pale yellow fruit 
is often an inch and a half in diameter. This plant was first distin- 
guished several years ago in the neighborhood of Rochester, New York; 
it is now known to be common in several western New York counties 
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