Winter twig

Flowers

Fruit

Tree

Lower and upper surfaces

The leaves are oval, 3-4 cm long and often shortly pointed. They are almost hairless with finely toothed margins. The stalk is 10-20 mm long.

ID check

Crab apple is a small deciduous tree rarely over 8 m in height. Its habitat is woods, hedgerows and scrub, on all except acid soils.

The flowers, which are borne in clusters, are crimson in bud and pale pink to white inside when they open. The anthers are yellow.

The apples, when full-sized, are about 2.5 cm across. They are green in early autumn but do not ripen fully and become golden until late winter.

If the leaves and flower stalks are hairy and the apples are over 3 cm across the tree is probably of cultivated origin (Malus domestica).

Facts

• The apples are eaten by many birds and, when fallen, by mammals.

• Crab-apples, though very sour, make a splendid jelly.

• The wood is valued for carving and for burning.