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Pacific crab apple
Malus fusca
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 A small tree or multi-stemmed shrub that grows to 12 metres tall, armed with sharp
thorn-like shoots and bearing showy white flowers from mid April to early June.
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Leaves
Alternate, deep-green, egg-shaped leaves grow up to 10 centimetres long.
The edges are toothed along the irregular lobes.Flowers
White to pink, fragrant apple blossoms in a flat-topped cluster. |
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Fruit
The yellow to purplish-red apples, 2 centimetres across, are tart but
edible. After a frost, they turn brown and soft. |
Where to find Pacific
crab apple
It is found on lakesides and streambanks along the coast, from sea level
to mid elevations. Pacific crab apple grows on Vancouver Island but not on the Queen
Charlotte Islands.Habitat
Pacific crab apple grows in moist, open woodlands. It presents a
delightful spring sight when in bloom along the edges of river mouths and streambanks. |
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Uses
The apples were an important fruit for all coastal people, who harvested
them in the late summer and early fall and either ate them fresh or stored them under
water. Because of their acidity, the apples did not require further preservation. The
deeply coloured wood is hard and somewhat flexible. Coastal people used it to make tool
handles, bows, wedges, and digging sticks.
Notes
This is the only native apple tree in the province, but it may be mistaken
for cultivated pear and apple trees that have overgrown or been abandoned.
Malus is often used for apples and Pyrus for pears. Some taxonomists
group the two genera into Pyrus. |
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