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Crabapples
Malus domestica
39.0596, -76.648
Field Notes
Description:
Crabapples are popular as compact ornamental trees, providing blossom in Spring and colorful fruit in Autumn. The fruits often persist throughout Winter. Crabapple fruit are mostly red.
Crabapple fruit is not an important crop in most areas, being extremely sour and (in some species) woody, and is rarely eaten raw for this reason. Crabapples are an excellent source of pectin, and their juice can be made into a ruby-colored preserve with a full, spicy flavor.
Habitat:
Some crabapples are used as rootstocks for domestic apples to add beneficial characteristics. They are also used as pollinizers in apple orchards. Varieties of crabapple are selected to bloom contemporaneously with the apple variety in an orchard planting, and the crabs are planted every sixth or seventh tree, or limbs of a crab tree are grafted onto some of the apple trees.
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