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Identification Guide

Where & When to Look

It is Easiest to identify in early Spring (in the month of May, but varies depending on where in Michigan you live) as they leaf out sooner than many other trees. This is because it is one of the first trees to bud out. In late fall it is also easier to identify by the hanging yellow/green fruit.

Sweet Crabapple grows best on the edge of forests and shaded areas, especially those which have not had any disturbances in many years.

Key Characteristics of Sweet Crabapple

  • Leaves

    Leaves are on long shoots (stems). The leaf around the margins (edge of the leaf) has shallow acute lobing and coarse, irregular teeth. The underside of the leaf is glabrous (not hairy).

  • Fruit

    Fruit is bright green when ripe, and turns yellow-green when overripe. Size of fruit is typically less than 3cm in diameter, but no greater than 4cm.

    Crabapples can be found on trees from June through October.

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    Flowers

    Flowers with 5 styles; calyx lobes persistent in fruit and pink anthers. Calyx lobes, pedicels, and petioles are glabrous underneath. Floral color is light pink to white.

    They can be found blooming in May.

  • Branching & Bark

    The trunk is short and often crooked. Bark is variable, but often reddish gray-brown, with a rough texture, and vertical scales that curve. Larger branches often have thorny side branching.

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    Habitat

    Sweet Crabapple is found in rich deciduous forests and borders to dry oak-hickory. Habitats include jack pine savanna; stream banks, roadsides and fencerows, and sandy prairie-like ground.

  • Size & Other Info

    Tree height ranges from 10-25 feet tall, with average height around 15 feet.

    The buds are dark pink, and the flowers are sweetly fragrant and is how the plant gets its name.