Malus floribunda

Malus floribunda, common name Japanese flowering crabapple,^[1][2] Japanese crab,^[3] purple chokeberry,^[2] or showy crabapple,^[2] originates from Japan and East Asia. It may be a hybrid of M. toringo with M. baccata, in which case it would be written as Malus × floribunda.^[4]

Malus floribunda
Malus floribunda blossom
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Clade:	Angiosperms
Clade:	Eudicots
Clade:	Rosids
Order:	Rosales
Family:	Rosaceae
Genus:	Malus
Species:	M. floribunda
Binomial name
Malus floribunda Siebold ex Van Houtte

Description

Malus floribunda forms a round-headed, deciduous tree up to 12 m (39 ft) in height, with narrow leaves on arching branches. The flowers, appearing in spring, are white or pale pink, opening from crimson buds. The red or yellow fruit is about 1 cm in diameter, ripening in autumn.^[5]

• 
  Red fruits
• 
  Yellow fruits

Resistance

Tree has good disease resistance to apple scab and powdery mildew.^[6]

The initiators of the PRI disease resistant apple breeding program have discovered that Malus floribunda has resistance to the apple scab and founded the program to introduce this VF gene into cultivated apples. Their work had been progressing with great success.^[7]

Awards

This crabapple species is considered one of the best crabapples for form and flower^[8] and has gained the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Garden Merit.^[5]

See also

• Applecrab