Manchurian Crab Apple

In NE China, this species is often used as stock for grafting Malus pumila and M. asiatica.

Trees to 15 m tall. Branchlets purplish brown, terete, densely puberulous when young, glabrescent; buds reddish brown, ovoid, glabrous or scales slightly puberulous at margin. Stipules caducous, linear-lanceolate, 5–7 mm, herbaceous or membranous, adaxially sparsely puberulous, margin sparsely glandular denticulate, apex acuminate; petiole 3–4 cm, sparsely puberulous; leaf blade ovate, elliptic, or obovate, 5–8 × 3–4 cm, abaxially puberulous or subglabrous along midvein and lateral veins, base cuneate or subrounded, margin serrulate, apex acute or acuminate. Corymb sessile, at ends of branchlets, umbel-like, 6–8 cm in diam., 3–6-flowered; bracts caducous, linear-lanceolate, small, membranous, margin entire or glandular denticulate, apex acuminate. Pedicel 3–5 cm, sparsely puberulous. Flowers 3–3.5 cm in diam. Hypanthium campanulate, abaxially pubescent. Sepals lanceolate, 5–7 mm, slightly longer than hypanthium, adaxially tomentose, margin entire, apex acuminate. Petals white, narrowly obovate, 1.5–2 cm, base shortly clawed, apex rounded. Stamens 30, unequal, ca. 1/2 as long as petals or longer. Ovary 4- or 5-loculed, with 2 ovules per locule; styles 4(or 5), slightly longer than stamens, tomentose basally. Pome red, ellipsoid or obovoid, 0.8–1.2 cm in diam. ; fruiting pedicel 3–5 cm, slightly puberulous; sepals caducous; with a small scar at apex. Fl. May–Jul, fr. Aug–Sep. 2n = 34*.

Gansu, Hebei, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Shaanxi, Shanxi [Russia].

Mixed forests on slopes, mountain summits, valleys; 100--2100 m.

Pyrus baccata Linnaeus var. mandshurica Maximowicz, Bull. Acad. Imp. Sci. Saint-Pétersbourg 19: 170. 1874; Malus baccata (Linnaeus) Borkhausen subsp. mandshurica (Komarov) Likhonos; M. baccata var. mandshurica (Maximowicz) C. K. Schneider.

Malus mandshurica, the Manchurian crab apple, is a species of Malus found in China, far eastern Russia, North Korea, and Japan. Some authorities consider it to be a variety of the Siberian crab apple, Malus baccata. It is used as a rootstock for cultivated apples in China.