Plant · P-369

Prairie Crabapple

Malus ioensis

Prairie crabapple carries fragrant May-June blossom that draws native bees, bumblebees and honeybees, and it grows into thickets that shelter and feed both large and small birds and mammals. The fruit is harsh and astringent raw but cooks well into jelly, preserves and cider. It spreads into thickets by root sucker as well as bird-sown seed, so the practical way to plant it is as a boundary hedgerow or windbreak block, letting the suckers close the gaps, rather than fighting it toward a single trunk.