Made about 70 seedlings last year, openly pollinated, mother an ornamental apple / crab apple. On of the plants have very different leaves, they are somewhat spiky and a lot broader compared to other seedlings and apple trees that I got.
Any wild guesses? What have caused this? Is it going to be a healthy tree only with odd leaves? Could it possibly help me guess how the fruits/tree will turn out? Are there any known apples with this type of leaves?
Picture from earlier this evening.
Some native crabs (malus fusca, malus ionensis, malus coronaria) have lobed leaves. I have at least one seedling ornamental crab with lobed leaves too.
Royal Raindrops, a pink blooming purple foliage crab has the cut/lobed leaves. It’s become a prominent landscape tree.
I can’t say much that others haven’t already said, but definitely keep this tree! It may turn out to have interesting decorative value if nothing else. Not sure about you, but I think this is fascinating. Could be Malus coronaria genes in there, maybe?
If you’re interested in the tree’s genetics, and you’re in Ontario, Canada by any chance, you might want to talk to Paul Kron at U of Guelph, he’s doing a project on crab genetics in Ontario. Otherwise, there is a US-based service for gene testing, but it’s pricey. I can dig up the links if you want.
Either could offer some insight into parentage that might tell you where this interesting mutation comes from. Super cool stuff.
Edit: Just noticed this was originally posted in June. Any more recent photos of the tree?
It’s a keeper for sure. I will try to remember to post pictures of how it develops, hopefully it will bloom in a few years… (time is everything when experimenting with seedlings)
Great to hear! Please keep us posted!
