What is the difference between peach blossoms and crabapple blossoms? A quick guide to telling them apart

1. Crabapple flowers have long stalks, while peach blossoms open almost flush against the stem, so a crabapple fruit stays attached to a stalk, like an apple, whereas a peach has almost no stalk.

2. Crabapple buds are perfect spheres, while peach buds are rather irregular, which is why crabapples are mostly grown for ornamental viewing.

[Peach blossom]

Flowers are solitary and open before the leaves; the plant begins growing leaves while still in bud, and leaves generally emerge as the flowers open.

Almost no stalk. Compared with cherry, pear and plum blossoms, peach, plum and apricot blossoms all lack a flower stalk and grow directly on the branches.

When peach blossoms open, the branch tips already have leaf buds or young leaves; plum blossoms open without leaves and sprout once the temperature is right; apricot blossoms grow leaves after the flowers fade.

In terms of flower shape, peach and plum blossoms both lack a long flower stalk, appearing to open directly against the branch. Peach blossoms are larger than plum blossoms, and their petals are soft, with a papery feel to the touch, while plum blossoms feel more like wax.

[Crabapple blossom]

Key identification points for Malus spectabilis (Xifu crabapple):

1. Opens in clusters.

2. Grows leaves at the same time as it blooms.

3. The petals show a graded transition from red to pink to white.

Key identification points for Malus halliana (Hall crabapple):

1. Opens in clusters.

2. Blooms from March to April.

3. Leaves are ovate or elliptical, the slender flower stalks droop, and the flowers are pink.

Key identification points for Chaenomeles speciosa (Japanese quince):

1. Branches are purple-brown or black-brown, and the leaves are ovate to elliptical.

2. Flowers open before the leaves and grow in clusters.

3. Flower stalks are short and thick, and the petals are obovate or nearly round, scarlet, rarely pale red or white.

Key identification points for Chaenomeles cathayensis (Chinese quince):

1. Branches are slightly curved, purple-brown, and the leaves are elliptical.

2. Flowers open before the leaves; the petals are obovate or nearly round, pale red or white.

3. Blooms from March to May.

Crabapple varieties differ greatly from one another.

The tallest one, with the largest petals and pale pink flowers, is Malus spectabilis (Xifu crabapple);

The shortest one, growing in clumps close to the ground, with petals that also grow close against the flower stalk, is Chaenomeles speciosa (Japanese quince), available in pinkish white and also bright red;

There is also Malus halliana (Hall crabapple), whose pink flowers are attached to long stalks and hang down one by one, which is how it got its name.