Photo/History: Pacific Crabapple (Malus Fusca)

Malus fusca, with the common names Oregon Crabapple and Pacific Crabapple, is a species of crabapple native to western North America.  The Crabapple is deciduous with dark-green leaves that turn bright orange to red in autumn. 

This tree can reach 30 ft. tall, and can live for up to 100 years; it prefers maritime conditions, its rootstock tolerating wet soils (including saltwater estuaries).The fruit can be eaten, but has a sour flavor; crabapple fruits were prized by indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest as a food source. The tree was also valued for its tough, resilient wood, used for making implements, and for its bark, used for a wide range of medicinal purposes.

Because I purchased this seedling, direct from the breeder, this will be an opportunity to document this tree's progress as it matures into an adult specimen (if I can keep him alive!).

Ordered on the grower's website, delivered via USPS, this photo shows how the tree was received. (If you're interested, see Unpacking 2 New Trees to see the whole process, including potting the seedling)

Although he has only been potted for 10-12 days, our Crabapple has already developed a growing bud at it's tip..he's going to live! And so I've created this permanent photo/history. This is where I will track this trees growth going forward.

April 2026

cutting taken from shoot

This winter has been a "tough slog" for the Crabapple, which I had nearly given-up on, probably due to the fact that we really didn't have a winter, this year. Some plants need a cold spell during their dormancy & I think that might have something to do with our tree.

In fact, this is a "shoot" of the bare-rooted seedling, that appeared 30 or 40 days ago, apparently growing from what would have been the main plant. As I did not want a multi-stemmed plant, I pruned the offshoot & then, just to see if it would root, I put it in some potting soil & a small plastic pot & more-or-less forgot about it until I saw buds forming on the shoot cutting.

Wouldn't you know it? Just when I've given up on the "mother" plant in favor of the cutting, the original bare-root comes to life, as you can see from these photos.

1st leaves - main plant

Mother plant

 

       

                                                             

So now, we have 2 Pacific Crabapples (if both live) which is fine with me..I wonder if one might pollinate the other? I don't really know how that much about this cultivar, so I'll have to do some research. For now, I'm just happy to see growth on both trees.

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