PRAIRIE CRAB APPLE (Malta. lansis, Britt.). N to 30 feet. Vigorous tree with round, open head of stout, pubescent branches. Lateral twigs usually bear spine-pointed spurs. Bark thin, brown, with long, narrow, persistent scales. Wood heavy, hard, brown, used for tool-handles, levers, and for fuel. Leaves oblong, pointed, often lobed on vigorous shoots, doubly serrate, acute or rounded at base, 3 to 4 inches long, pubescent below, leathery, dark, shining above, turning yellow; petioles stout, fuzzy. Flowers white, or rosy, like those of
M. coronaria, but hoary-tomentose. Fruit fuzzy, becoming dull, smooth, 11 inches in diameter, not flattened, fragrant. Dist.: The Mississippi Basin, all states the river bounds, and Nebraska to Texas. Known by the wooliness of its young growth all summer.