Range: New York and southern Ontario across to Wisconsin, south to Kansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina.
Distinguishing Features: The Prairie Crab Apple differs from the Narrow-leaved Crab Apple by its broader leaves and from the Iowa Crab Apple by its usually less-lobed leaves and smooth flowers.
IOWA CRAB APPLE
Malus ioensis (Wood) Britt.
Growth Form: Small tree to 25 feet tall; trunk diameter up to 1 foot; crown spreading.
Bark: Reddish-brown, scaly.
Twigs: Moderately stout, reddish-brown, sometimes spiny, usually somewhat hairy at maturity; leaf scars alternate, narrow, curved, with 3 bundle traces.
Buds: Rounded, reddish-brown, less than ⅛ inch in diameter, finely hairy.
Leaves: Alternate, simple; blades elliptic to oval, rounded or pointed at the tip, rounded or tapering to the base, up to 4½ inches long and less than half as broad, toothed along the edges and often shallowly lobed, dark green and smooth on the upper surface, yellow-green and usually somewhat hairy on the lower surface; leafstalks stout, up to 1 inch long, hairy.
Flowers: Showy, up to 2 inches across, on long stalks, usually 3 or more in a cluster, with 5 rounded, white or rose petals, appearing during May and June.