Malus sylvestris (L.) Mill.

vernacular European crab apple — species · Rosaceae

USDA: MASY2
GBIF: 3001509
Rank: species

European crab apple (Malus sylvestris) — Platephotograph · Vilma BharatanCC BY-NC-ND source · iNaturalist ↗

§2Habit & range

Growth habit: Shrub, Tree
Duration: Perennial
Group: Dicot
Family: Rosaceae Juss.
Genus: Malus

§2a

Native status, by region

L48 Lower 48 States Introduced

§2b

County-level range

· 15 counties across 2 states/territories

Legend Native · 0 Introduced · 15 Both · 0 Hover a county for detail.

§3Cultivation specs · USDA

Recorded by the USDA Plant Materials Program.

§3a

Tolerances

Drought: Medium
Shade: High
Moisture use: Medium
Fire: Low
Salinity: None
Anaerobic: None
CaCO₃: Low
Hedging: Low

§3b

Climate & soil

Cold tolerance: -28 °F minimum
Frost-free days: 150 min.
Precipitation: 30–50 in/yr
pH range: 4.8–7
Root depth: 36 in min.
Fertility need: Medium
Soil texture: coarse, medium

§3c

Form & growth

Growth form: Single Stem
Growth rate: Moderate
Lifespan: Moderate
Mature height: 40 ft
Height @ 20 y: 30 ft
Foliage texture: Medium
Foliage colour: Green
Porosity (summer): Dense
Porosity (winter): Porous
Flower colour: White
Fruit colour: Red
Fire resistant: No
N fixation: None
Toxicity: None

§3d

Reproduction

Bloom period: Mid Spring
Seed abundance: High
Seed begins: Summer
Seed ends: Fall
Spread rate: Slow
Stratify: Yes
Seeds / lb: 20,000
Propagation: seed, cuttings, bare root, container

§3e

Use & availability

Commercial availability: Routinely Available
Nursery stock: Yes
Browse palatability: High
Graze palatability: Low
Palatable, human: Yes
Lumber: No
Fuelwood: Medium
Christmas tree: No

§4Counties, by state

Recorded in 15 counties across 2 states/territories.

New Jersey view state ↗ 11 I ▾

New York view state ↗ 4 I ▾

§5Sources & provenance

USDA PLANTS

Symbol, taxonomy, distribution, cultivation specs, native status. Public domain.

plants.usda.gov/MASY2 ↗

GBIF Backbone

Canonical taxonomic identity, synonym resolution, cross-refs. CC0.

gbif.org/species/3001509 ↗

Record version

Cached and built locally. Source version on this record:

usda-plants-mt-2026-05-26

fetched 2026-05-26T11:35:19Z