I created a project to track apples and crabapples in ND and SD. Since they are all Malus, I would like a way to distinguish apples from crabapples. And since there are a lot of crabapples being submitted, I’m wondering how I could distinguish them. Would it be best to use an observation field? Sh…

People with more horticultural experience, please correct me. Apples are interesting… if you plant a seed from a store-bought apple, you’ll end up with a crab apple because the seeds are formed by sexual reproduction whereas store-bought varieties are just either cuttings or grafts taken from the f…

Conventional apples should all be identified as Malus domestica, I think?

I think you need to read Chapter 9 of this excellent book :)

The best way to approach this might depend on what you want to do with your observations. Are you looking to display the results in a project, export data, etc.? You can also post a link to the project so folks can potentially see what you are working with. I would guess that an observation field m…

I don’t get it, from what I read crab apples is what apples with smller fruits are called (I honestly hear about it for the first time https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Кребы ), like Malus baccata? But what will grow from a seed is what is called a wild-type apple, it will have big apples, but they will …

[image] jeffhansen1: I created a project to track apples and crabapples in ND and SD that seems like an interesting project. may i ask why you’re tracking apples vs crabapples? [image] vreinkymov: If someone knowingly planted a cutting or graft from a commercial veriety in their garden, …

I am suggesting people enter the “Cultivar” name if known in the observation data. But there are so many apples where people don’t know the variety of the apple. And then there are ornamental crabapples and edible crabapples and edible apples and some even use the term apple crab for those fruits t…

That is true. Maybe that is how I could distinguish apples from crabapples. From what I know, apples are a mix of genetics but M. domestica is an accepted taxon.

The reason I created the project is to keep track of any apple varieties I find in my area. Some are edible crabapples and some are edible apples but then there are also ornamental crabs. There really isn’t any good way to differentiate them. That is why I’m thinking fruit width size might be a g…

Apples are really complicated. Seeds from an apple or a crabapple will normally produce something different than the parent if it is cross pollinated by a different variety which is usually the case. There are some apples that grow true to species like Malus ioensis (native Iowa crabapple) but mos…

Apples vs Crabapples

General

Topic		Replies	Views
Apples and plums Nature Talk	1	292	November 7, 2021
Distinguishing between European blackberry species Nature Talk	14	977	December 16, 2024
When do you apply the annotation "fruiting" to flowering plants? General question	38	1971	January 20, 2024
Queen Anne's Lace: Tips for being sure about ID before eating? Nature Talk question	29	611	October 19, 2025
iNat as an apple tree match-making app General	7	619	April 22, 2026

Apples vs Crabapples

Related topics