Japanese Crab (Malus floribunda)
Other names Japanese flowering crab apple
At a glance
- Lifecycle
- Perennial (hardy)
- Exposure
- Full sun
- Frost limit
- −34.4 °C
Cultivation
An easily grown plant, it succeeds in most fertile soils, preferring a moisture retentive well-drained loamy soil. A very ornamental plant. Hybridizes freely with other members of this genus. The tree is a very good pollinator for the apple orchard. Plants in this genus are notably susceptible to honey fungus.
Propagation
Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in the autumn in a cold frame. It usually germinates in late winter. Stored seed requires stratification for 3 months at 1°c and should be sown in a cold frame as soon as it is received. It might not germinate for 12 months or more. Prick out the seedlings into individual pots as soon as they are large enough to handle. If given a rich compost they usually grow away quickly and can be large enough to plant out in late summer, though consider giving them some protection from the cold in their first winter. Otherwise, keep them in pots in a cold frame and plant them out in late spring of the following year. Cuttings of mature wood, November in a frame.
Edible uses
Fruit - raw or cooked. It tastes like a soft fruit. Acid but nice, about the size of a large blackcurrant[K].
Habitat
Not known in the wild.
Native range
E. Asia - Japan? Probably not a truly wild species but a hybrid M. sieboldii x M. baccata or M. prun