Somewhere in Chester County in southeast Pennsylvania I visited a park that was sort of wild and at first I thought I found some native Sweet Crabapples (Malus coronaria) because the crab fruits were larger than most, about 1 inch in diameter. But I realized they were not quite big enough for the native species and the leaves were not lobed like native crabapple species. This Plumleaf Crabapple is the only species that lines up with such I inch diameter fruits that also have a strong calyx on the bottom. The Siberian Crab of M. baccata is similar, but with smaller fruit. The unlobed leaves are downy beneath. This species must come from China. Its fruits are good to eat for humans or for wildlife. It has escaped cultivation in the eastern US. Oriental Crabapples species are turning out to be beneficial to native wildlife for fruit and for some species of butterflies and moths on which the caterpillars can feed on the foliage.

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