All I know about the fruit thus far is that it’s a crab apple.
@JohannsGarden
I’m interested in trialing it. If you want to do an exchange for scions later please keep me in mind.
Perhaps graft it to an existing tree then airlayer it off to start the stool bed if they dont root easy.
Cool find!
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I’m working on establishing a batch to stool so I can distribute already rooted clones for people to trial. When they’re ready (not this year of course) I’ll be checking back on this thread to remember who all the interested volunteers are.
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Early August Update:
I’ve got a few successful grafts of this dwarf crabapple growing strong now and the grafts are burried to allow them to push their own roots. Once they have enough roots I will remove the rootstock and use the rooted scions to establish a stool bed so I can distribute own-root clones for trialing.
I stopped by the tree today to see how its fruit set is and I’m pleased to see that it is carrying a heavy crop of crabapples despite the late freezes we had this year. The high fruit set makes me wonder if it may be somewhat self fertile.
The fruit aren’t ripe yet, but those with more sun exposure are showing a red blush. Most are shielded by the foliage though and are still very green. I actually couldn’t even tell it had fruit in it until I got close to the tree, but it’s definitely loaded.
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I did a check in on the tree yesterday and picked a handfull of crabapples from it to evaluate for ripeness. They overall are very blemish free which is amazing considering all my apples look awful this year from late freezes.
Taste and seed color indicates they are still not ripe, but getting close.
The flavor while still unripe/sour seems pretty acceptable. I was surprised that even under-ripe they seem a bit low in tannin. Even a few hours after cutting one in half it had not turned brown.
I couldn’t help but think that color wise these are the “Rainier cherries” of crabapples. In fact, I left them sitting on the table and when my mother first saw them she thought they were ‘Rainier’ cherries until she took a closer look.
I ended up cooking them all down with a little water and then running them through a food mill. The resulting sauce made a fairly good apple butter once sweetened and seasoned. My mother said it tastes very similar to what her mother used to make from their tree in Iowa which is good, cause till now the other crabapples I’ve been growing have not met her sentimental expectations for flavor.
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Well I’m sold! I would gladly trial (or purchase) this whenever you have extra trees to spare. I hope you get a chance to taste the apples fully ripe as well, but even if they don’t sweeten up I’d enjoy those for their ornamental and processing value.
@swincher Fortunately the ortet is only ten minutes from my house so I’ll keep checking back on it for ripeness. I succeeded at grafting three of them this spring and the grafts have been buried for at least a couple months now. Once their on their own roots I should be able to start stooling them for own-root propagation and further trialing. I’ll keep you in mind for said trialing.
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That was my first reaction when I saw the photo. Hope the flavor improves when they ripen more.
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Two and a half weeks later and they are ALMOST ripe (seeds starting to turn brown). To my surprise the red blush that was showing at the last check in has suffused to produce uniformly golden fruit. Quite attractive!
The acidity has come down a little, but is still present in a very good way. They now taste VERY much like the chewable Vitamin C tablets I remember having as a child. I know apples have a range of different acids, but at this stage “Vitamin C flavor” is dominating. I always loved those chewables, so I’m definitely not mad about that!
As I continue chewing I’m starting to think maybe even a bit like kumquat flavor without the burn.
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I waited another 4 weeks before checking back in on the fruit progression. Last time I was there they were just about at peak ripeness. I’m pleasantly surprised to find now that as they age past ripe they are bletting on the tree like medlars instead of going bad or falling. While the tree did still have a fair bit of fruit still hanging in the firm yellow form (yellow skin and yellow flesh), the majority of the fruit have turned brown and taken on an apple sauce texture similar to what happens with medlars, but compared to medlars these have a higher moisture content and are a bit more tangy in flavor. They also have a much higher edible percentage since the cores/seeds make up for a very tiny amount of each ball of mush. I’d say if you like medlars you will definitely like these in the bletted form, but some people who don’t like medlars would probably still like these.
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I’ve been cautious to not jump the gun on assigning botanical identity to this specimen, but after much evaluation and time I’m beginning to lean towards Malus ×dawsoniana which is a naturally occurring intergrade between our locally native Malus fusca and the introduced Malus domestica.
I’ve been scouring through many, many pictures of M. fusca on iNaturalist and have observed a couple traits that are present in this special tree. Like this dwarf crabapple, it seems M. fusca is also VERY prone to producing branches at very wide angles (nearly 90° angles) and while many crabapples do produce fruit in clusters, M. fusca tends towards the same color in its ripe fruit as my found tree. It also appears quite normal for M. fusca to blet on the tree like this dwarf crabapple do. While I still can’t for sure rule out other species in its ancestry, it seems a very logical conclusion that some of its traits should be atributed to M. fusca ancestry, but the larger, rounder fruits and dwarf stature certainly mean it is a hybrid with something domestic/introduced. There are a fair number of M. domestica growing all around the general area in peoples’ yards so unless some new information comes to light this can almost certainly be classed as Malus ×dawsoniana.
If I am right, that makes this specimen EVEN MORE INTERESTING FOR USE AS A DWARF ROOTSTOCK! Why? Because M. fusca is a wetland plant and that trait could be passed along to its hybrid offspring. There is reason to hope that in addition to being a sturdy dwarf rootstock possibility this tree might also be good to use where it’s otherwise too soggy for other apple rootstocks! Of course none of this should distract from the fact I think this specimen is also worth growing just for its kumquat flavored fruit. ALSO, the vast majority of M. fusca accessions tested for fireblight resistance by the USDA proved to be highly resistant so there’s a good chance this tree will have some of those resistance genes (not that it matters in my area, but if this is trialed in other parts of the country that will matter).
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Very interesting. It would be awesome if this could function as a dwarfing rootstock that doesn’t need supports. I’d trial them in Zone4 MN if it continues to look promising.
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I’m working on establishing a couple of them as stools (like is done for commercial apple rootstock production). Hopefully I’ll have at least enough to share clones with a couple people by next year.
I think I read fusca hybrids were dropped from consideration as rootstocks by USDA research because of “collar rot”? susceptibility, not sure. It was research that Cummins nursery owner was involved in when he worked in government malus genetics.
All a vague recollection.
I googled it and found this assertation (probably what you were referencing) that M. fusca and its hybrids were highly susceptible to collar rot. What parts of the country is that an issue in? I’ve not heard of that being a problem for apples in my area.
https://www.ibiblio.org/london/NAFEX/message-archives/old/msg01581.html
Oddly the claim is also made there that the majority of the M. fusca seedlings they grew were highly susceptible to fire blight with only a small percentage showing resistance. This is strange to read given that after researching through the GRIN-Global website the vast majority of M. fusca they tested were listed as highly resistant with susceptible individuals being few in comparison…
I am struggling to find any actual studies showing that collar rot (Phytophthora sp.) is a major issue for M. fusca. I did read that for domestic apples and their rootstocks in general the susceptibility to this is associated with overly wet soil. Overly wet soil is what M. fusca is adapted to though. I’m surprised there aren’t reports of massive die offs in wild M. fusca trees if they are so susceptible to a disease that thrives in the same conditions they tend to grow in.
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My guess (and just a guess) is different climate-different responses. I’ve had many types of plants not perform here yet they were winners in other conditions. 
Is collar rot an issue in your area?
Heavy clay soil here but not many people have fruit trees. I’ve only personally seen 1 older grafted ‘Sargent’ crab die at the base, I think it was phytophthora (musty smell and orangey/yellow rot). I’m like you, expected fusca hybrids would be the answer for rootstock in wet soils.
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I do know that we have multiple Phytophthera species present in WA state. I’m just surprised there wouldn’t be more info about it specifically regarding M. fusca considering it’s native here.
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