Kindly sponsored by
Francine: 'after many informative Tours and Study Days with the IDS I feel it only fitting to help and promote such a wonderful organisation'
Julian Sutton (species), Nick Dunn (cultivars) (2021)
Recommended citation
Sutton, J. & Dunn, N. (2021), 'Malus Cultivars R' from the website Trees and Shrubs Online (treesandshrubsonline.
We aim to include the most important contemporary ornamental cultivars in Europe and North America, a few likely to become so, and a selection of significant older varieties. Orchard apples are excluded. Where a cultivar can confidently be attributed to a species or hybrid nothospecies, we duplicate the description there, but these cultivar pages include everything.
Synonyms / alternative names
Malus transitoria 'R.J. Fulcher'
Growth Rate/Size: Small (<4 m)
Form/shape/habit: Rounded, dense
Foliage: Small, lobed, purple-tinted
Flower colour: Red-purple
Flower size: Small (<3 cm)
Flower form: Single
Flower season: Mid
Fruit size: Very small (<1 cm)
Fruit shape: Round
Fruit colour: Dark purple
Fruit season: Mid
Disease resistance/susceptibility: Resistant
Parentage/origin: Hybrid, one of a seedling batch from cultivated M. transitoria, raised by R.J. (Dick) Fulcher, then of Bicton College, Devon, UK
Raiser/collector: Selected by Kevin Croucher, Thornhayes Nursery, Devon
Date of introduction: About 1995
General notes: A sister seedling to Malus ‘Thornhayes Tansy’. Attractive leaves and highly ‘boudoir’ scented flowers. Not yet well circulated, but time may prove this to be one of the best recent introductions.
Growth Rate/Size: Large (>6 m)
Form/shape/habit: Broadly rounded
Foliage: Red-purple when young, later green with a bronze cast
Flower colour: Deep pink from vibrant red buds
Flower form: Single
Fruit size: Small (<2 cm)
Fruit colour: Bright red
Fruit season: Colours early, persistent
Disease resistance/susceptibility: Highly susceptible
Parentage/origin: Probably an open pollinated seedling of ‘Hopa’
Raiser/collector: L.E. Longley, University of Minnesota, USA
Date of introduction: 1957
Synonyms / alternative names
Malus 'Red Baron' misapplied
Growth Rate/Size: Medium (<6 m)
Form/shape/habit: Columnar
Foliage: Red-purple, ageing green with a bronze cast; good autumn colour
Flower colour: Red-pink from dark red buds
Flower form: Single
Fruit size: Small (<2 cm)
Fruit shape: Ribbed, calyx falls
Fruit colour: Glossy dark red
Disease resistance/susceptibility: Slightly susceptible
Raiser/collector: Arnold Arboretum, MA, USA
Date of introduction: By 1984, by Simpson Nursery, IN
General notes: Malus ‘Red Baron’ is an orchard apple, but the crab is sometimes mis-spelt this way.
Growth Rate/Size: Small (<4 m)
Form/shape/habit: Rounded, dense
Foliage: Large, purple-tinged when young
Flower colour: Soft pink
Flower size: Large (>4 cm)
Flower form: Single
Flower season: Mid
Fruit size: Medium (<3 cm)
Fruit shape: Oblong/oval
Fruit colour: Red-purple
Fruit season: Early
Disease resistance/susceptibility: Low susceptibility
Date of introduction: About 1970
General notes: Despite little knowledge of its origin, this tree has become quite readily available from British nurseries. Its fruits can put on quite a display, even if brief.
Synonyms / alternative names
Malus × scheideckeri 'Red Jade'
Growth Rate/Size: Small (< 3 m)
Form/shape/habit: Stiffly weeping
Foliage: Small, narrowly pointed, bright green
Flower colour: White, sometimes blushed, from pink buds
Flower size: Small (<3 cm)
Flower form: Single
Flower season: Mid
Fruit size: Small (<2 cm)
Fruit shape: Oblong/oval
Fruit colour: Bright red
Fruit season: Mid
Disease resistance/susceptibility: High susceptibility
Parentage/origin: Open-pollinated seedling of M. ‘Exzellenz Thiel’; sometimes (like its parent) attributed to M. × scheideckeri
Raiser/collector: George M. Reed, Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, NY, USA, 1935
Date of introduction: 1953
General notes: A distinctive small, gracefully weeping tree of low vigour, prone to severe scab in some years. The fruits are bright and cheerful when at their best. It was the subject of an early US Plant Patent, PP 1497 of 1956. Superseded by M. ‘Sun Rival’.
Awards
AGM
Growth Rate/Size: Small (<4 m)
Form/shape/habit: Rounded, open
Foliage: Small
Flower colour: White from pink buds
Flower size: Small (<3 cm)
Flower form: Single
Flower season: Mid
Fruit size: Medium (<3 cm)
Fruit shape: Round
Fruit colour: Bright red
Fruit season: Very late
Disease resistance/susceptibility: Resistant
Parentage/origin: A hybrid, suggested to belong in M. × robusta
Raiser/collector: Unknown
Date of introduction: Before 1959
General notes: One of the very best red-fruited hybrid Siberian crabs, reliable, with persistent fruit through most of the winter. A great tree for winter-feeding birds.
Synonyms / alternative names
Malus REJOICE™
Growth Rate/Size: Medium (<6 m)
Form/shape/habit: Oval, upright
Foliage: Dark green, flushed maroon
Flower colour: Rose-pink from red buds
Flower form: Semi-double
Fruit colour: Dark red
Disease resistance/susceptibility: Highly resistant
Parentage/origin: ‘Red Barron’ × ‘Roysezam’(= ROYAL SCEPTRE ™)
Raiser/collector: James Zampini, Lake County Nursery, OH, USA
Date of introduction: By 2006
General notes: Fruits very poorly
Synonyms / alternative names
Malus spectabilis 'Riversii'
Malus spectabilis ‘Rosea Plena’
Growth Rate/Size: Small (<4 m)
Form/shape/habit: Upright
Foliage: Large
Flower colour: Rosy pink from darker buds.
Flower size: Large (>4 cm)
Flower form: Semi-double, with 9–20 petals
Flower season: Early
Fruit size: Insignificant
Disease resistance/susceptibility: Low susceptibility
Parentage/origin: Probably an unhybridized seedling of M. spectabilis
Raiser/collector: Thomas Rivers, Hertfordshire, UK
Date of introduction: Before 1864
General notes: A lovely, rare variety that deserves more recognition. The famous fruit breeder Thomas Rivers was ‘a little disappointed’ in his cultivar, but it has met with the ongoing approval of crabapple enthusiasts.
(Description duplicated under Malus spectabilis ‘Riversii’)
Synonyms / alternative names
Malus 'Roberts Red'
Malus 'Dr Campbell's'
Growth Rate/Size: Medium (<6 m)
Form/shape/habit: Rounded, open
Foliage: Large, dark purple turning purple-green
Flower colour: Dark red
Flower size: Medium (<4 cm)
Flower form: Single
Flower season: Mid
Fruit size: Medium (<3 cm)
Fruit shape: Round
Fruit colour: Dark purple
Fruit season: Early
Disease resistance/susceptibility: Low susceptibility
Date of introduction: Before 1970
General notes: Despite an obscure origin, this variety is quite fascinating. It has very high levels of anthocyanin in its leaves, wood and fruit, the flesh particularly intense. It came to attention in a collection of crab apples at the former Showerings Co, Somerset, UK, and is named for Dr Iain Campbell, former Virologist at Long Ashton Research Station, Bristol which closed in 2000. It makes a unique dry apple juice (‘Dr Campbell’s Claret’) of intense colour, which is retained for many years.
Growth Rate/Size: Small (<4 m)
Form/shape/habit: Weeping
Foliage: Small, purple turning dark green
Flower colour: Red-purple
Flower size: Small (<3 cm)
Flower form: Single
Flower season: Early
Fruit size: Very small (<1 cm)
Fruit shape: Round
Fruit colour: Dark purple
Fruit season: Early
Disease resistance/susceptibility: High susceptibility
Raiser/collector: Unknown, perhaps Canadian
Date of introduction: About 1970
General notes: A popular weeping form in the early years following its introduction, now grown less due to disease susceptibility. At its best, one of few true weeping varieties, very graceful in habit with intensely coloured flowers and fruit.
Growth Rate/Size: Small (<4 m)
Form/shape/habit: Upright, spreading
Foliage: Large, dark purple
Flower colour: Purplish-crimson
Flower size: Large (>4 cm)
Flower form: Single
Flower season: Early
Fruit size: Small (<2 cm)
Fruit shape: Round
Fruit colour: Dark purple
Fruit season: Early
Disease resistance/susceptibility: High susceptibility
Parentage/origin: Open pollinated seedling from a rosybloom variety
Raiser/collector: W. L. Kerr, Saskatchewan, Canada
Date of introduction: 1953
General notes: Despite its disease susceptibility this variety is worth highlighting for the intense flower colour, and how well this contrasts with the deep purple emerging leaves. It is a neat, compact tree.
Synonyms / alternative names
Malus 'Rudolf'
Growth Rate/Size: Small (<4 m)
Form/shape/habit: Upright
Foliage: Large, narrow, bronze-red turning dark green.
Flower colour: Red-pink from dark red buds
Flower size: Large (>4 cm)
Flower form: Single
Flower season: Mid
Fruit size: Small (<2 cm)
Fruit shape: Oblong
Fruit colour: Orange-yellow
Fruit season: Late
Disease resistance/susceptibility: Low susceptibility
Parentage/origin: Possibly M. baccata × a rosybloom variety
Raiser/collector: Frank L. Skinner, Manitoba, Canada
Date of introduction: 1954
General notes: One of the largest single pink Malus flowers, and well named – the dark red buds reminded Skinner of the red-nosed reindeer. The tree has a neat habit but the fruit is sparse at best. Used primarily in the landscape industry as a street tree, but worthy of garden planting for its brief, beautiful flowering season. M. ‘Mokum’ is an improvement with superior autumn leaf colours over a longer period.