The open plant encyclopedia

Know any plant.
Grow it well.

Snap a photo or search by any name to see how to care for it, where it comes from, whether it's safe, and a 3D model you can turn.

What's growing around me?

13,000+plants with full pages
365,000+plant species worldwide
220+countries covered

Common in

See all

The plants people record most in your country, and ones that grow there wild.

What do you want to do?

Popular plants

Browse all plants

See them in 3D

All plants in 3D

Browse plants

Filter by what you want to do, shape, origin, country, care and safety.

Has a real 3D model

Plant Wiki › Browse plants

Plumleaf crab apple

Malus prunifolia

Also called Chinese Apple, Plum Leaf Apple, Chinese Crabapple, Plum Leaved Apple, Crab Apple, Pear Leaved Crabapple, Plum Leaved Crabapple

Malus prunifolia, the plumleaf crab apple, is a small tree of China that grows 3 to 8 m tall, with white spring flowers and yellow or red crabapples. It is grown outside China as an ornamental tree and as a rootstock for apple grafting, and it is hardy and adaptable to a range of climates.

Family: Rosaceae (Rose family)
Grows as: Tree
Light: Full sun
Water: Water deeply during dry spells, especially in the first few years, and let the top few centimetres of soil dry between waterings.
Soil: Well-drained loam; tolerates a range of soil types and pH.
Temperature: Cold hardy to roughly -30 °C; best in cool temperate conditions with hot summers.
How easy: Easy
Safety: Toxic: Seeds and leaves of Malus species contain cyanogenic compounds (amygdalin) that release cyanide if the seeds are crushed or chewed in quantity; the flesh of the fruit is generally safe.
Native range: N. China to Qinghai
Climate: temperate

About

Malus prunifolia is a species of crabapple tree known by the common names plumleaf crab apple, plum-leaved apple, pear-leaf crabapple, Chinese apple and Chinese crabapple. It is native to China.

The number of chromosomes is 2n = 34.

Where it grows

Malus prunifolia is found in China in the provinces of Gansu, Guizhou, Hebei, Henan, Liaoning, Nei Mongol, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Shanxi, and possibly Xinjiang. It is adapted to grow at a variety of elevations from sea-level plains, to slopes as high as 1,300 m (4,300 ft).

Uses

Outside of China, it is grown for use as an ornamental tree or as rootstock.

Other Malus plants

Pillar Apple · Southern crab apple · Sweet crab apple · Japanese Crabapple · Oregon Crab Apple · Hall crab apple · Chinese crab apple · Caucasus Apple · Sargent's apple · Apple · Asiatic apple · European Crab Apple

Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Malus prunifolia by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.

The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.

Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.

Credits & terms

Know any plant.Grow it well.