What is the difference between crabapple flowers and pear flowers? A quick guide to tell them apart

Pear flowers belong to the genus Pyrus in the rose family (Rosaceae), while crabapple flowers belong to various plants in the genus Malus and the genus Chaenomeles. Pear flowers are generally white, while crabapple flowers are basically all red and pink.

1. Morphological characteristics of pear flowers

Flowers open before the leaves or at the same time as the leaves, in umbel-like racemes; 5 sepals, reflexed or spreading; 5 petals, clawed, white rarely pink; 15-30 stamens, anthers usually dark red or purple; 2-5 styles, free, ovary 2-5 locular, each locule with 2 ovules.

2. Morphological characteristics of crabapple flowers

Crabapple is a tree, up to 8 m tall; branchlets stout, cylindrical, with short pubescence when young, gradually falling off, reddish brown or purplish brown and hairless when old; winter buds ovoid, apex acuminate, slightly pubescent, purplish brown, with several exposed scales. Leaf blades elliptical to oblong, 5-8 cm long, 2-3 cm wide, apex shortly acuminate or rounded-obtuse, base broadly cuneate or nearly rounded, margin with appressed fine serrations, sometimes partly nearly entire, sparsely pubescent on both surfaces when young, later falling off, old leaves hairless; petiole 1.5-3 cm long, with short pubescence; stipules membranous, narrowly lanceolate, apex acuminate, entire, with long pubescence on the inner surface.

Fruit nearly spherical, 1.5-2 cm in diameter, yellow, sepals persistent, base not sunken, pedicel depression raised; fruit stalk slender, thickened at the apex, 3-4 cm long. Flowering period April-May, fruiting period August-September.