5. Malus floribunda Siebold ex Van Houtte (Japanese flowering crab apple, purple
chokeberry)
Pyrus floribunda G. Kirchn., an illegitimate name
Map 2459
Plants shrubs or
small trees to 5(–8) m tall, not colonial. Branchlets thornless. Twigs densely
short-hairy when young, soon becoming glabrous. Leaf blades rolled inward
during development, 3–8 cm long, mostly 1.5–2.5 times as long as wide, ovate to
oblong-ovate, broadly angled or rounded at the base, tapered to a sharply
pointed tip, the margins finely, evenly, and sharply toothed, unlobed, the
upper surface glabrous at maturity, the undersurface usually minutely hairy.
Flower stalks and hypanthia glabrous or the stalks sparsely hairy. Calyces
withered but more or less persistent at fruiting, the sepals 3–6 mm long,
narrowly triangular to triangular, the outer surface glabrous or very sparsely
hairy, the inner surface densely woolly. Petals 2–3 cm long, the body oblong-ovate
to broadly ovate, short-tapered to a short or noticeable, stalklike base, pink
to nearly white at flowering (usually fading to white with age). Anthers
yellow. Styles usually 4, the stigmas capitate. Fruits 0.8–1.0 cm long, red to
yellow, shiny, not glaucous. April–May.
Introduced,
uncommon, known thus far only from the city of St. Louis (native of Asia;
introduced sporadically in the United States). Railroads.
Malus
floribunda is a commonly
cultivated crab apple with showy reddish to dark purple branches, large
flowers, and brightly colored fruits. The branches often are spreading and
weeping cultivars exist. The species was first collected in Missouri in 1977 by
Viktor Mühlenbach during his inventories of the St. Louis railyards, but was
not included in his publications on this project.