Photo: Unknown — CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Survives zone 4 through 7
Harvest calendar
Best planted in early spring after your last frost, or in fall before the ground freezes, depending on your climate.
The cutleaf crabapple takes its common name from its deeply lobed, almost fern-like foliage — an unusual trait among Malus — and is grown as a graceful, small-fruited ornamental valued for its slender, wide-spreading branches, masses of white spring blossom, and golden-yellow autumn leaf color; it holds the RHS Award of Garden Merit.
- Hardiness
- Zone 4–7
- Habit
- Tree
- Edible part
- Fruit
- Ripens
- Summer–autumn
- Mature size
- Small tree 5–8 m, fine-twigged and delicate
- Light
- Full sun
- Soil pH
- 6.0–7.0 (near-neutral)
- Environment
- Arid montane
- Native range
- Native to northwestern and north-central China, recorded across Gansu, Henan, Ningxia, Qinghai, Shaanxi, and Sichuan provinces, growing wild in thickets on slopes and hills of the Loess Plateau at elevations of roughly 1,500–3,900 m.
- Status
- Ornamental
- Years to fruit
- 2–4 yrs
- Growth speed
- Medium; reaches about 8 m tall by 10 m wide at maturity, flowering in May with fruit maturing by October.
- Spacing
- 800 cm (315 in) apart — about 64 m² (689 sq ft) per plant
- Leaf shape
- Distinctively deeply lobed or 'cut' (occasionally entire) on long shoots, giving the tree an elegant, almost fern-like texture unlike the simple, unlobed leaves of most other crabapples — turning vivid golden yellow in autumn.
- Root system
- Fibrous, wide-spreading root system typical of the genus; the species is itself used as a grafting rootstock for apple in parts of China.
- Fruit description
- Small, abundant, yellow (sometimes golden) pomes roughly 8–25 mm in diameter; flavor is acid and astringent but described as tolerable, improving somewhat after frost.
- Propagation
- Seed is best sown fresh in autumn in a cold frame; stored seed needs 3 months' cold stratification at 1°C and germination may take 12 months or more. Mature-wood cuttings can be taken in November. The species is also used as a grafting rootstock for cultivated apple in parts of China, and named/selected forms are grafted rather than grown true from seed.
- Pollination
- ⚠ Mostly SELF-INCOMPATIBLE — needs a 2nd cultivar
The edible parts listed above are a starting point, not a field guide. Identify a plant with certainty — ideally against a local authority — before eating any part of it, and read the full disclaimer. Spotted something wrong? Report it.
Growing guide
Fertilizing. Adapts to light sandy, medium loamy, or heavy clay soils across mildly acid to mildly alkaline pH; grows best in moisture-retentive, well-drained loam and needs little supplemental feeding once established. It is notably drought- and cold-tolerant.
How it spreads. A slender, wide-spreading but single-stemmed small tree that does not sucker; it hybridizes freely with related Malus species, and spreads locally by bird-dispersed seed.
Growing tips. Tolerates both drought and cold well; like other Malus it is susceptible to honey fungus. Fruiting is reduced in shade, so a sunny position gives the best display of its abundant small fruit.
Grow journal
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