All taken at Garry Point Park, Richmond. The flowers were taken in late April this year. The ping ball sized fruits were taken this morning from the same tree, 15-18 feet tall. I know these are crabapples, but fail in ID the species.
I'm just commenting on these thrilling photos! And also reminding you that for IDs, it often helps to also see a "habit photo" - one that shows the shape of the whole tree or plant. Sometimes for related trees, flowers and fruits can look similar, but the shape of the tree can clearly rule out some candidates, or suggest likely IDs.
Need to wait. Can't haul too many lens. I had a tele on tripod and a macro for closeup. None in between !
Well, at least you have the whole set here. With so many cultivars, even many of them with pink flowers, it's unlikely anyone would venture to name one. Of the crab apples listed in the Vancouver Trees app, it doesn't really match anything. The closest would be Malus 'Prairifire', but the pomes (apples) don't look right, and websites don't even list what species that cultivar comes from, since it's a hybrid from more than one species. Also that reminds me to tell you to add to your list of what info to provide: the size of the fruits and size of the leaves. I don't know who in the city would have the list of trees - maybe you can get a city arborist email address and ask them to look at your photos and tell you if they have the cultivar name. And then you'd have to believe that it was properly named when it came in, which is not always the case. Some day, you might come across a similar-looking tree with a label! And then you'd have to name your photos "similar to Malus 'cultivar name' ". Actually, it's such a wild-looking area, it might not have even been deliberately planted, could be a seedling from an apple eaten by a visitor, in which case it would not even have a name even if the name of the eaten apple were known. Unless you're trying to purchase the same tree, I think "Crab apple, pink flowers, purple fruits" should do for your description.
Thanks for enlightening. Just to add my 2 cents, if it is sweet, it's crab apple, if otherwise, it is crap apple. I seriously think the name was initially crap apple until someone find sweet ones, then it is eulogize into crab apple.
Cute, but I don't think so. The page at The Surprisingly Sweet Secret of Crab Apples | Chelsea Green Publishing says that " Even desirable crab apples are sour." The sweet apples are just called apples. The small sour ones are crab apples. But there some crab apples that are more palatable and more useful for cooking than others.
Agree that growing situation of the example asked about here implies that it arose spontaneously from seed. And is therefore not a named horticultural selection (unless the probably very small chance that somebody else noticed this same original individual, cloned it and put it on the market with its own name actually occurred). A pertinent aspect would be if there is anything else visible on the site that suggests it used to be a habitation or other situation where cultivated trees may have been present.
