Malus baccata

Cherry apple (Malus baccata)

The cherry apple (Malus baccata), also known as apple berry, is a kind of deciduous tree from the kind of apples (Malus ) in the rose family ( Rosaceae ).

Description

The cherry apple M. baccata var baccata is a low tree with a curved and overhanging tree crown or a large shrub. The leaf buds are conical. The lanceolate leaves are 3-8 cm long and 2 to 3.5 cm wide. The leaf stalks are thin and 2-6 cm long. The wide flowers have narrow, widely shared petals. The fruit is quite spherical and about 1 cm thick; it is yellow with red blush. The fruits usually remain on the tree until spring.

The variety M. baccata var mandschurica is clearly grew joyous and can reach a tree a height of about 15 m and up to 2 m trunk circumference. The tree crown is broad and densely branched. The leaves are broadly elliptical, and initially under hairy hand. Leaf and flower stems are hairy. The flowering period is the earliest of all Malus species; The flowers are pure white and 4 cm wide. The ellipsoidal fruits turn quickly crimson; they have a diameter of about 1 cm.

Dissemination

The natural range of the cherry apple M. baccata var baccata is located in eastern Siberia and northern China; this variety is apparently known only in cultivation. In Germany it is very rarely encountered; however, are often copies of M. × robusta under the incorrect designation M. baccata in culture.

The variety M. baccata var mandschurica is native to central Japan, Amur, Central China, Korea and Sakhalin. It is only very rarely found in Germany in collections and botanical gardens.

Swell

• Alan Mitchell, translated and edited by Gerd Krüssmann: The forest and park trees in Europe: a field guide for dendrologists and nature lovers. Paul Parey, Hamburg and Berlin, 1975, ISBN 3-490-05918-2.