Part 36

Wood: Heavy, close-grained, reddish-brown.

Uses: Wood is used for tool handles; crab apples used in making jelly.

Habitat: Woods; edge of fields; edge of prairies.

Range: New York and southern Ontario across to Wisconsin, south to Kansas, Tennessee, and North Carolina.

Distinguishing Features: The Prairie Crab Apple differs from the Narrow-leaved Crab Apple by its broader leaves and from the Iowa Crab Apple by its usually less-lobed leaves and smooth flowers.

IOWA CRAB APPLE Malus ioensis (Wood) Britt.

Growth Form: Small tree to 25 feet tall; trunk diameter up to 1 foot; crown spreading.

Bark: Reddish-brown, scaly.

Twigs: Moderately stout, reddish-brown, sometimes spiny, usually somewhat hairy at maturity; leaf scars alternate, narrow, curved, with 3 bundle traces.

Buds: Rounded, reddish-brown, less than ⅛ inch in diameter, finely hairy.

Leaves: Alternate, simple; blades elliptic to oval, rounded or pointed at the tip, rounded or tapering to the base, up to 4½ inches long and less than half as broad, toothed along the edges and often shallowly lobed, dark green and smooth on the upper surface, yellow-green and usually somewhat hairy on the lower surface; leafstalks stout, up to 1 inch long, hairy.

Flowers: Showy, up to 2 inches across, on long stalks, usually 3 or more in a cluster, with 5 rounded, white or rose petals, appearing during May and June.

Fruit: Apples up to 1¾ inches across, yellow-green, edible.

Wood: Heavy, close-grained, brown.

Use: The fruit is used in making jelly.

Habitat: Edges of prairies and fields.

Range: Wisconsin and Minnesota, south to Nebraska, Texas, and Louisiana.

Distinguishing Features: The Iowa Crab Apple is distinguished from the other crab apples in the state by the greater frequency of lobed leaves and by its hairy flowers.

WHITE MULBERRY Morus alba L.

Growth Form: Medium tree up to 50 feet tall; trunk diameter up to 2 feet; crown broadly rounded, with many short branchlets.

Bark: Light brown, sometimes tinted with orange, divided into long, scaly plates.

Twigs: Slender, yellowish, smooth or sometimes hairy, more or less zigzag; leaf scars alternate, half-round, elevated, with numerous bundle traces.

Buds: Pointed, reddish-brown, smooth, about ⅙ inch long.

Leaves: Alternate, simple; blades ovate, short-pointed at the tip, rounded or cut straight across at the base, up to 5 inches long and nearly as broad, coarsely round-toothed, sometimes 2-lobed, sometimes 3-lobed, sometimes deeply several-lobed, sometimes unlobed, green and smooth to the touch on the upper surface, paler and smooth on the lower surface, except for a few hairs sometimes on the veins; leafstalks up to 2 inches long, smooth.

Flowers: Staminate and pistillate flowers borne separately, either on the same tree or on different trees, appearing as the leaves unfold, the staminate crowded into narrow green clusters up to 2 inches long, the pistillate crowded into short, thick spikes up to 1 inch long.

Fruit: A cluster of tiny drupes up to 1¼ inches long, white or pinkish, more rarely red or purple, sweet, juicy.

Wood: Light in weight, soft, coarse-grained, orange-brown.

Uses: Fence posts; the fruit is edible.