70. Crab Apple Trees

Location: Dotted around the lawns east of Drumheller fountain and fronting the walk before Bagley Hall.

Historical Background: Native Crabapples are harvested in summer and fall for most if not all coastal Pacific Northwest groups. If they’re not eaten right away, they are stored in water, but do not need long preservation measures due to their acidity. The bark was also incorporated into medicinal treatments.

Non-Native

Native Range: Native they are on the Pacific coast from Alaska to California. Other species may be found in a variety of other biomes.

Identifying Features: While we do have a native crabapple species, Malus fusca, it is unfortunately not present here on this campus. We are however fortunate to have a wide variety of other types of crabapple, which are closely related to both two apples and pears (in the same genus). Since there is a variety of the species speckled around the Drumheller fountain, the identifying features will be generalized.

Identifying Features In Depth:

1. Form: Short and stocky trees, some varieties short, reaching only about 16’ (5m), others much taller and achieving as much as 50’ (15m). They are usually moderately dense, with squat rounded crowns becoming flattened and spreading with age, and very open branching patterns.

2. Leaves: Leaves are distinctive and it can be seen that these species are in the rose family. They are generally finely toothed on the margins, light green above and paler beneath, with parallel venation and tapering to a pointed tip. Generally they have a petiole/leaf stalk of about 1.5” (4cm) with leaves about 2 ¼-4 ½” (6-12cm) in length depending on the tree. Leaves are elliptical in nature. Some varieties have purplish colored leaves. Some can be very wooly.

3. Bark: Often craggy, very fissured and gray to tan brown, some varieties have thorns especially on twigs.

4. Reproductive Bodies: Flowers of these species generally have 5 petals with short yellow stamen contained within. They can be open and broad or folded in and budlike on some varieties. They are usually white or pinkish in color. These give rise to the crabapples, which look very much like a cross between cherries and rose hips, rounded with a long stem and globose glaucious fruit with small tufts at the leading end. They can be yellow, pink, orange, or red. Generally they are about 1cm in diameter though larger varieties can achieve 2.5cm.