What types of crabapple flowers are there? Common varieties explained clearly at once

Crabapple flowers are among the finest subjects in the works of many poets and scholars, and are known as the "immortal among flowers" and the "imperial consort of flowers." The main types of crabapple flowers are four: the weeping crabapple, the Xifu crabapple, the twisted-stem crabapple, and the papaya crabapple. So what are the differences between the different types of crabapple flowers?

Weeping crabapple

The weeping crabapple is a small tree, with purple young branches and ovate or elliptical leaves. It blooms between March and April, and its flowers are divided into semi-double and double forms.

1. The double weeping crabapple flower is nearly double, with a brilliant red color.

2. The white-flowered weeping crabapple has smaller flowers, slightly close to white.

Xifu crabapple

The Xifu crabapple, also known as the small-fruited crabapple, is said to be named because it grew in Xifu during the Jin Dynasty. It is a small tree with long elliptical leaves and umbel-like racemes. Before its flowers open, the buds are brilliant red, like dots of rouge, and after opening they gradually turn pink. The flowers are relatively large, 4 to 7 in upward-facing clusters, and the pear fruit is spherical and red. It is native to Liaoning, Hebei, Shanxi and other provinces in China. Whether planted alone, in rows, or in groups, the Xifu crabapple is very beautiful, and it is most suitable for planting by the water's edge and in a corner of a small courtyard. The Xifu crabapples in the Imperial Garden of the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace in Beijing have long enjoyed great fame.

Twisted-stem crabapple

The twisted-stem crabapple, also called wrinkled papaya, is a deciduous shrub 1 to 2 m tall, with ovate or elliptical leaves. Its flowers grow in clusters of 3 to 5, and the flower stalks are short and thick or nearly absent, hence the name twisted-stem crabapple. The flowers are pink, vermilion or white, opening before the leaves or at the same time as the leaves. The flowering period is from March to May, and the fruit is ovate to spherical, yellow or yellow-green, and fragrant. It is produced in southern North China, eastern Northwest China and Central China, and is now cultivated throughout the country. The flowers of the twisted-stem crabapple grow in clusters of three or five, "the most elegant color that takes the spring," and its fragrant, large yellow fruit can be used as medicine.

The twisted-stem crabapple is an excellent flowering and fruiting ornamental plant, suitable for group planting in courtyard corners, at the edges of lawns, around groves, and beside ponds and streams. It can also be densely planted to form a flowering hedge, and can also be made into stump bonsai.

Papaya crabapple

The papaya crabapple belongs to the genus Chaenomeles in the rose family. It is a deciduous small tree, often with thorns; the leaves are alternate and simple, with large stipules; the flowers are solitary or clustered, often opening before the leaves; there are 5 sepals, colored; the stamens are numerous; the stamens number 20 or more; the ovary is inferior, with 5 chambers and numerous ovules; the pear fruit is fleshy and large.

The papaya crabapple grows at the edges of mountain forests or under forest in gullies, at an altitude of 800-1100 m. Its fruit is used medicinally, with the effects of dispelling wind, regulating qi, relaxing the muscles and relieving pain, and it is often cultivated in gardens for landscaping. This plant is also simply called papaya, but it is a different plant from the subtropical fruit papaya (also simply called papaya). Although the differences are very great, they are still easily confused. The flowering period of the papaya crabapple is in April, and the fruiting period is from September to October.