Facts about Siberian Crabapple

Siberian crabapple scientifically known as Malus baccata is an Asian species of apple belonging to the rose family (Rosaceae). The plant is native to Russia, Mongolia, China, Korea, Bhutan, India, Kashmir and Nepal. The tree is found in Japan, and it has also been introduced to Europe and to North America, where it is found in the wild mostly in the Great Lakes Region and in the Northeastern United States. It is also grown elsewhere as an ornamental tree and for rootstock. It is used for bonsai as well. Some of the popular common names of the plant are Siberian crab apple, Siberian crab, Chinese Crab Apple, Flowering crabapple, Chinese Crab and Manchurian crab apple. Genus name from Latin is an ancient name for apple. Specific epithet from Latin means berry-like.

The plant is cultivated for its fruit, timber (which is used for smokehouse kindling and firewood) and also for medicinal uses (it is a treatment for dysentery and diarrhea and is also a source of the antibiotic, phloretin); it is also used in ornamental landscaping, as a shade tree and as a farmstead windbreak. It has been used as graft stock and to confer cold tolerance and Podaspaere leucotrica resistance into apple. Malus baccata is known to be a widespread species.

Siberian Crabapple Facts

Plant Description

Siberian crabapple is an upright, deciduous, broad-rounded, flowering crabapple tree with arching or pendulous branches forming a rounded, wide-spreading canopy. The tree usually grows 5 – 10 meters tall, sometimes reaching 14 meters. The short bole can be up to 30 cm in diameter. The plant is found growing in open forested areas, mixed forests on slopes, among shrubs in valleys, mesic thickets and riparian zones. The plant succeeds in most fertile soils including heavy ones, preferring a moisture retentive well-drained loamy soil. It prefers a sunny position but succeeds in partial shade. The plant has arching or overhanging red-brown branches and red-brown buds.

Leaves

Leaves are elliptic or egg-shaped, 3-8 cm (1.18 –3.15 in) long and 2- 3.5 cm (0.79–1.38 in) wide. It is very slightly hairy when young, base cuneate or rounded apex acuminate and margin serrate. Petioles are 2–5 cm (0.8–2.0 in) long, with few glands and fine hairs. No appreciable fall color, with early fall leaf drop common.

Bud Arrangement	Alternate
Bud Color	Reddish-brown, with several imbricate scales
Bud Size	1/8 to 1/4 inch long.
Leaf Type and Shape	Simple, elliptical
Leaf Venation	pinnate, brachidodrome
Leaf Margins	Finely-serrate to irregularly-toothed or lobed
Leaf Surface	Essentially glabrous
Leaf Length	1 to 3¼ inches
Leaf Width	1 to 2½ inches
Leaf Color	Dark or olive-green above, paler green beneath; yellow fall color.
Fall Color	Yellow
Fall Characteristics	Not showy

 

Flower

Pedicels are slender and 1.5–4 cm (0.59–1.57 in) long. They bear white fragrant flowers of 3–3.5 cm (1.2–1.4 in) in diameter which groups by 4–6. Petals are white and egg-shaped, approximately 2–2.5 cm (0.79–0.98 in) long. Flowering normally takes place in between April to May.

Flower Type	Umbel or corymb-like racemes
Flower Color	White
Fruit Type	A 1/4 to 1/3 inch (pea-sized) pome with deciduous calyx
Fruit Color	Yellow, often with reddish blush
Fruit Characteristics	Attracts squirrels/mammals; showy; fruit/leaves not a litter problem

 

Fruit

Fertile flowers are followed by tiny red or yellow spherical crabapples which ripen in fall. They are only about 1 cm (0.4 in) in diameter; they form dense clusters and resemble cherries from a distance. Small ones may be yellow, often with a reddish blush, or a glossy red. Small ones may stay on the tree all through the winter. Larger ones may also be pale yellow with bright red flushes, sometimes with a blue bloom. Fruit is edible for humans. Birds are attracted to the fruit.

Traditional uses and benefits of Siberian Crabapple

• The paste of the fruit is applied to the forehead to relieve headaches.
• The plant is used in a treatment for dysentery and diarrhea and also a source of the antibiotic, phloretin.

Culinary Uses

• Fruit can be consumed raw or cooked.
• It is often dried for winter use and also makes an excellent jelly.
• They make excellent jelly, jam, and sauce, and have traditionally been used in cider.

Other Facts

• The plant can be used as a rootstock for apple cultivars.
• It produces a vigorous tree that has more cold tolerance and disease resistance.
• It is commonly used as stock to graft Malus pumila and M. asiatica in N and NE China.
• It is a dynamic accumulator gathering minerals or nutrients from the soil and storing them in a more bioavailable form – used as fertilizer or to improve mulch.
• Trees can produce fruit in 4 years from seed.
• Malus baccata is used as ornament for its flowers and fruit.
• The timber is used for smokehouse kindling and firewood.
• The wood has been used for making a wide range of items, including furniture, mallet heads, umbrella handles, cog wheels, pianos, tools etc., and also for turnery.

Precautions

• In small quantities, hydrogen cyanide has been shown to stimulate respiration and improve digestion, it is also claimed to be of benefit in the treatment of cancer.
• In larger concentrations, however, cyanide can cause gasping, weakness, excitement, pupil dilation, spasms, convulsions, coma and respiratory failure leading to death.

References:

http://www.theplantlist.net/tpl1.1/record/rjp-5766

https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=25256#null

https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxon/taxonomydetail?id=23219

https://pfaf.org/user/Plant.aspx?LatinName=Malus+baccata

https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=286425

https://gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/species/malus/baccata/

https://biodiversity.bt/species/show/1128

https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:726243-1

http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200010898

https://gd.eppo.int/taxon/MABBA

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malus_baccata

https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/ST397

https://www.cabi.org/isc/datasheet/31947

http://temperate.theferns.info/plant/Malus+baccata

https://plants.usda.gov/home/plantProfile?symbol=MABA

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