Crabapple

(botany) Any of several trees of the genus Malus, order Rosales, cultivated for their small, edible pomes.

A fruit, represented commercially by such varieties as Martha, Hyslop, and Transcendent, comprising hybrids between Malus baccata (Siberian crabapple) and M. domestica (cultivated apple).

Trees are very hardy. At one time the fruit of the crabapple was esteemed because of its high pectin content and its usefulness in jam and jelly manufacture. With the introduction of commercial pectin preparations, demand for the crabapple declined sharply. Except for its use as a pickled product, there is little commercial interest in this fruit. See also Apple; Fruit, tree; Pectin; Rosales.