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West Virginia Trees

Chapter 88: AMERICAN CRAB APPLE
By A. B. Brooks
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Nature/Gardening/Animals

About This Book

A practical field guide to the native and introduced trees of West Virginia, providing keys based mainly on leaves and fruits, concise family and species descriptions, and detailed line drawings for about 101 native species. It organizes trees by botanical families, gives brief flower notes, a glossary of terms, and suggestions for identifying specimens; occasional introduced species and shrubs are noted. The bulletin emphasizes simplicity for non-specialists, offers measurements and habit descriptions for each species, and includes administrative prefatory material. Its aim is to aid lay readers and students in tree identification and to encourage local interest in forestry.

AMERICAN CRAB APPLE

Pyrus coronaria, L.

Form.—Height 15-25 feet, diameter 10-14 inches; trunk short and usually armed with many stubby, thorn-like branches; crown narrow when in a thicket but broad and flat-topped in the open.

Leaves.—Alternate, simple, ovate, or elliptic, 3-4 inches long; sharp-pointed apex, rounded base, serrate, smooth, dark green above, paler beneath.

Flowers.—May, with the nearly full-grown leaves; perfect, rosy-white, 1½-2 inches across, arranged in umbel-like cymes; very fragrant.

Fruit.—Matures in autumn; a depressed globose pome, 1-1½ inches in diameter, yellowish green, fragrant, flesh firm and bitter.

Bark.—Roughened with flat, scaly ridges; brownish-gray or reddish.

Wood.—Heavy, hard, light reddish brown.

Range.—Southern Canada to Alabama, west to Louisiana, Missouri and Michigan.

Distribution in West Virginia.—Common in most sections. Rare in Boone, Logan, Mingo and other southwestern counties. Abundant in the hilly regions of the central and northern parts of the State.

Habitat.—Prefers a moist soil and is usually found in thickets in open woods and neglected fields.

Notes.—The Crab Apple is best known on account of its fragrant blossoms. The wood is sometimes used for tool handles, turned articles, and engravings.