Purple Siberian Crab
Crab Apple
Purple Siberian Crab
Origin/History
Known botanically as Baccata fructa purpurea or rosea (Desportes).
Tree
Not described in source.
Fruit
Size: About one inch high and one and a half inches broad (Desportes).
Form: Oblate towards both extremities, roundish on the sides (Desportes). Both sources agree the fruit is oblate.
Stem: Two-thirds of an inch long, slender, curvate, inserted within a profound cavity (Desportes).
Cavity: Profound (Desportes).
Calyx: Not described in source.
Basin: Not described in source.
Skin: Beautiful reddish purple on the sunny side, covered with a fine white bloom like that of plums; the shaded side is less brilliant; the entire surface is speckled with gray dots. Both sources agree on this description; Desportes specifies the bloom is comparable to that of plums.
Flesh/Flavor: Coarse and acerb (Desportes); coarse and harsh (Downing). Both sources characterize the flesh as typical of crab apples generally.
Core/Seeds: Not described in source.
Season
Not described in source.
Uses
Not described in source.
Subtypes/Variants
Not described in source.
Book Sources
Described in 2 period pomological works
View original book sources (2)
— B. Desportes, The Horticulturist (1856)No. 1. THE PURPLE SIBERIAN CRAB — Baccata fructa purpurea or rosea. Fruit, about one inch high, and one and a half broad, oblate towards the two extremities, roundish on the other side; stem, two-thirds of an inch long, slight slender, curvate, inserted within a profound cavity; color, beautiful reddish purple on the sunny side, covered with fine white flower like that of the plums, the shaded side is less brilliant, and all the surface is speckled with same gray dots; flesh, is like all the crabs, coarse and acerb.
— A.J. Downing, The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America (1900)Purple Siberian Crab.
Fruit oblate. Color beautiful reddish purple on the sunny side, covered with a bloom, the shaded side less brilliant, and the whole surface speckled with some gray dots. Flesh, like all the crabs, coarse and harsh.