Malus floribunda has resistance to the apple scab and founded the program to introduce this "VF gene" into cultivated apples. Their work had been progressing with great success. This crabapple species is considered as one of the best crabapples for form and flower and has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit. Malus floribunda Malus floribunda, common name Japanese flowering crabapple, Japanese crab, purple chokeberry, or showy crabapple, originates from Japan and East Asia. It may be a wild species, or a hybrid of "M. sieboldii" x "M. baccata". "Malus floribunda" forms a round-headed, small deciduous tree with narrow leaves
Malus are borne in corymbs, and have five petals, which may be white, pink or red, and are perfect, with usually red stamens that produce copious pollen, and a half-inferior ovary; flowering occurs in the spring after 50–80 growing degree days (varying greatly according to subspecies and cultivar). Apples require cross-pollination between individuals by insects (typically bees, which freely visit the flowers for both nectar and pollen); all are self-sterile, and (with the exception of a few specially developed cultivars) self-pollination is impossible, making pollinating insects essential. Several "Malus" species, including domestic apples, hybridize freely. They are used as food plants