Double Flowering Chinese Crab
Crab AppleDouble Flowering Chinese Crab
Origin / History
Native to China. Introduced as an ornamental specimen for its remarkable floral display rather than fruit quality. Also known as Double Flowering Apple.
Tree
An exceedingly ornamental, small tree. Grows from 10 to 20 feet in height. The tree's primary value is ornamental rather than horticultural.
Bark, twigs, lenticels, buds, and leaf characteristics: Not described in source.
Fruit
Size & Form: Small. Form not further described in source.
Color & Skin: Green.
Stem, Cavity, Calyx, Basin: Not described in source.
Flesh & Flavor: Quality insufficient for culinary use; described as "of no value" for fruit purposes.
Core & Seeds: Not described in source.
Flowers
Large, tipped with deep red in the bud. When open, pale rose color, semi-double, and produced in fine clusters. The showy blossoms are the defining ornamental characteristic of the variety.
Season
Not described in source.
Uses
Purely ornamental. Valued for the visual display of its flowers rather than for fruit production or consumption. The fruit itself has no commercial or culinary value.
Subtypes / Variants
Not described in source.
Other
The tree's primary horticultural contribution is its exceptional floral ornament, making it highly admired as a landscape specimen despite the worthlessness of its small green fruit.
Book Sources
Described in 1 period pomological work
View original book sources (1)
— A.J. Downing, The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1900)Double Flowering Chinese Crab.
Double Flowering Apple.
This very beautiful crab-tree from China, which produces a small green fruit, of no value, is highly admired for its showy blossoms. These are large, tipped with deep red in the bud, but when open are of a pale rose color, semi-double, large, and produced in fine clusters. It is an exceedingly ornamental, small tree, growing from ten to twenty feet in height.