C *79 3
P Y R U S Malus.
Wild Apple, or Crab-tree.
I C O S A N D R I A Pentagynia.
Gen..Char. Cal. 5-cleft. Petals 5. Apple inferior,
with 5 cells, and feveral feeds.
Spec. Char. Leaves ferrated. Flowers in a feffile
umbel.
Syn. Pyrus Malus. Linn. Sp. PL 686. Hudf. FI.
An. 216. With. Bot. Arr. 517. Relb. Cant. 191.
Malus fylveftris. Raii Syn. 452.
T h e common original of all our valuable Varieties of apples
grows wild in alnioft every natural grove or thicket, nor is
it unfrequent in hedges. When about the end of May it is
covered with bloom, few if any Ihrubs furpafs the crab in
beauty. Its elegant rofe-colour bears a greater proportion to
the white than in any cultivated variety, except the codling.
The tree is of a moderate fize, diftinguifhable from our fo-
reft trees, when without leaves, by its very irregular branches,
and particularly its fhort, knobby, and rugged bearing (hoots,
from which alone the leaves and flowers are produced. The
leaves are roundifli, or oval; their, ferratures difappear fome-
times by cultivation, but not fo completely as in the pear-tree.
The flower-ftalks form a Ample terminal umbel, and are rarely
fubdivided. They are moftly covered with foft down, as is the
inflde (and fometimes the outflde) of the calyx. Fruit fmall,
hard, and very acid, yellowilh green with a tinge of red.
The wood is hard, with a fine grain. The acid liquor of the
fruit, called verjuice, is ufeful to cure fprains and fcalds.
See Dr. Withering’s concife and full account of the ufes of this
and the pear-tree.