Types of Crabapple Trees

Published on: Feb 28 2018 by Shenron

There are over twenty-five species which are indigenous to North America. The crabapple trees belong to the family of rose. One can easily distinguish the crabapple trees from the regular apple trees by means of their size. Different types of crabapples are used by the gardeners and landscapers to jazz up their rural or urban settings. Previously, these trees are not indigenous to the North America until they are made native by the process of cross pollinating between certain types of species.


Crabapple trees are normally considered as deciduous trees which means that the foliage of all the crabapple trees fall during the fall season and new leaves shoot in the peak season. Crabapple trees bear the foliage having a shape like spear point, jagged with toothy ridges. In most of the species of crabapple trees, the flowers sprout in the late spring. The fruit of the crabapple tree can be found in different colors such as green, reddish, purple and yellow. The fruit is normally bitter or tart to taste. Unlike regular apple which are almost 2 inch in diameter, crabapple measured less than 2 inch in diameter.

Following are given some of the common types of crabapple trees:

Southern Crabapple

It is commonly grown in the regions of the Deep South and some parts of Ohio Valley. The southern crabapple tree can grow as tall as to 30 feet and has a trunk with a width of one foot. It produces very fragrant flowers which usually bloom in clusters of three to five. The apple is green in color with a diameter of 1 inch. The crabapple tree bears extend foliage 1-3 inch in length.


It is pretty common to see that several different types of plants or trees get their name from the geographical location where they grow. Same is the case with crabapple tree as there are many species of crabapples which are associated to certain regions such as the prairie crabapple found in the central states from Minnesota south to the grasslands of Kansas and some regions of Texas. Similarly, the Oregon crabapple is found widely alongside the Pacific Coast from Oregon north to Alaska.

Sweet Crabapple

These are the principal commodity of the upper Midwest, i.e. from Great Lakes south to Kentucky and from eastward to New Jersey. It has an oval-shaped leaves with broad, round base. Its flowers are very fragrant and of pinkish-white in color. Its blossom blooms to the width of 1 ½ inch. The apple of this tree is yellow-green in color. The tree grows well in damp, moist soil.


There are some species of crabapples which are grown excessively for ornamental purposes. These species have developed some certain features which make them an ideal choice for ornamental trees. For instance, ‘Molten-lava’ crabapple is an apt example of weeping spreading tree. It can grow to the height of 10 feet with wide, extended crown. ‘Red Jewel’ crabapple is an example of small spreading bush and it can grow to the height of 15 feet. ‘Donald Wyman’ is an example of large rounded crabapple tree that can grow to the height of 20 feet. When this tree gets mature, its top takes a rounded shape.

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