Distribution. Northeastern Pennsylvania (Scranton, Lackawanna County) to the western and southwestern parts of the state, and southward to Randolph and Greenbrier Counties, West Virginia, Pulaski County (on Peak Mountain), Virginia, and to the mountains of North Carolina up to altitudes of 3200°, and westward to northeastern Kentucky, through southern Ohio, eastern Indiana (Delaware County) and southern Illinois (Richland, Jackson, Gallatin and Pope Counties); Missouri (Jackson and Wayne Counties).
6. [Malus angustifolia] Michx. Crab Apple.
Leaves elliptic to oblong-obovate, rounded or acute and apiculate at apex, gradually narrowed and cuneate at base, and crenately serrate, hoary-tomentose below and sparingly villose above when they unfold, soon glabrous, or occasionally pubescent on the midrib below, and at maturity subcoriaceous dull green on the upper and light green on the lower surface, 1′—2′ long, ½′—¾′ wide; turning brown in drying; petioles slender, at first villose, soon glabrous, ½′—¾′ in length; stipules linear, rose-colored, ⅓′ long; leaves at the end of vigorous shoots ovate, oblong-ovate or elliptic, usually lobed with numerous short acute lobes, or coarsely serrate, usually rounded at apex, broad-cuneate at base, at maturity glabrous, or slightly floccose-pubescent below, especially on the midrib and veins, 2′—3′ long, 1½′—2′ wide, with stout often rose-colored glabrous or pubescent petioles. Flowers about 1′ in diameter, very fragrant, on slender glabrous or rarely puberulous pedicels, ¾′—1′ long, in mostly 3—5-flowered clusters; calyx-tube short and broad, glabrous, the lobes about as long as the tube, glabrous on the outer surface, thickly covered with hoary tomentum on the inner surface; petals oblong-obovate, gradually narrowed below into a long claw, rose-colored, about ¼′ wide; stamens shorter than the petals; styles 5, united at base, villose below the middle. Fruit depressed-globose, pale yellow-green, ¾′—1′ in diameter.
A tree, rarely 30° high, with a short trunk 8′—10′ in diameter, rigid spreading or rarely slender and pendulous (var. pendula Rehd.) branches forming a broad open head, and young branchlets clothed at first with pale caducous pubescence, soon glabrous, in their first winter brown slightly tinged with red, and in their second year light brown and marked by occasional orange-colored lenticels. Winter-buds 1/16′ long, chestnut-brown, slightly pubescent. Bark ⅜′—¼′ thick, dark reddish brown, and divided by deep longitudinal fissures into narrow ridges broken on the surface into small persistent plate-like scales. Wood heavy, hard, close-grained, light brown tinged with red, with thick yellow sapwood; occasionally employed for levers, the handles of tools and other small objects. The fruit is used for preserves.
Distribution. Southeastern Virginia in the neighborhood of the coast, southward to western Florida, and through southern Alabama and Mississippi to western Louisiana (near Winnfield, Winn County); in the Carolinas and Georgia, ranging inland to the Appalachian foothills and in Mississippi to the neighborhood of Iuka, Tishomingo County in the northeastern corner of the state; in southern Illinois (Pope and Johnson Counties, E. J. Palmer).
7. [Malus bracteata] Rehd.
Leaves elliptic-ovate to oblong-ovate, acute, on flowering branchlets sometimes obtusish at apex, cuneate or rounded at base, serrate or incisely serrate, sometimes slightly lobed near the base, covered below with floccose tomentum when they unfold, soon glabrous, and at maturity thin, bright yellow-green and lustrous above, light green below, 1½′—3′ long, 1′—1¼′ wide; petioles glabrous, reddish like the under side of the midrib, ⅔′—1′ in length; leaves at the end of vigorous shoots ovate, acute, cuneate at base, usually lobed with 4 or 5 pairs of short acute or rounded lobes, more thickly tomentose when they unfold, at maturity thicker, glabrous above, more or less pubescent below, often 3′—3½′ long and 2′—2½′ wide, with a stout midrib and petiole. Flowers 1′—1¼′ in diameter, on slender glabrous or nearly glabrous pedicels, in 3—5-flowered clusters, with subulate bractlets ⅕′—⅛′ long, often persistent until after the flowers open; calyx-tube glabrous, the lobes slightly longer than the tube, villose on the inner surface; petals oval, narrowed into a slender claw, deep pink, 5/12′—½′ wide; stamens about one third shorter than the petals; styles slightly shorter than the stamens, united at base and villose below for a third of their length. Fruit depressed-globose, with a shallow basal cavity and a shallow slightly corrugated cavity at apex, slightly viscid, ⅘′—1′ high and 1′—1¼′ wide.
A tree, 15°—30° high, with a trunk up to 6′ or 7′ in diameter, thick branches forming a broad often symmetrical head, and stout branchlets red and glabrous when they first appear, becoming reddish brown and lustrous at the end of their first season, and dull red-brown and armed with occasional stout spines or unarmed the following year, the vigorous shoots more or less pubescent early in the season, becoming glabrous, or often densely pubescent until autumn. Winter-buds red-brown, glabrous, or slightly pubescent. Bark dark brown and broken into thin closely appressed scales.