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Pacific Crabapple

Malus fusca

Pacific crabapple, the only crabapple native to the West Coast, thrives in wet thickets and stream edges from California to Alaska. Fragrant white bloom yields tiny tart apples long harvested by coastal peoples. The tart little apples are a traditional food raw, cooked, or made into jelly — best after a few autumn frosts have sweetened them. As with other apples, the seeds contain trace cyanogenic compounds and shouldn't be eaten in quantity.

Family

Rosaceae

Type

tree

Lifespan

perennial

Height

15–15 ft

Spacing

15–25 ft apart

Light

sun

Soil moisture

moist

Soil pH

acidic, neutral, alkaline

Bloom

April, May

Bloom colors

white, pink

Wildlife value

pollinators, songbirds, butterflies, larval host, mammals

Caterpillar hosts

~308 butterfly & moth species

Landscape uses

specimen, hedge or screen, erosion control

Native states

AK, CA, OR, WA