Malus angustifolia (Aiton) Michx.

Li, Jing-chao, Liu, Jian-quan & Gao, Xin-fen, 2022, A revision of the genus Malus Mill. (Rosaceae), European Journal of Taxonomy 853, pp. 1-127 : 71-72

20. Malus angustifolia (Aiton) Michx.

Figs 47–48

Flora Boreali-Americana Vol. 1: 292 ( Michaux 1803).

Pyrus angustifolia Aiton, Hortus Kewensis Vol. 2: 176 ( Aiton 1789). – Pyrus coronaria var. angustifolia (Aiton) Wenz. , Linnaea 38 (1): 41 ( Wenzig 1874). – Malus coronaria var. angustifolia (Aiton) Ponomar. , Sbornik nauchnykh Trudov po prikladnoi botanike, genetike i selektsii 146: 9 ( Ponomarenko 1992). – Malus coronaria var. angustifolia (Aiton) Rehder ex Likhonos , Kul’turnaya Flora SSSR Vol. 14: 34 ( Likhonos 1983), nom. inval.

– Type: USA • North Carolina, locality unknown; s.d; Greene s.n.; neotype: K [ K000758465 ]!, here designated.

Pyrus malus var. sempervirens Weston, Botanicus Universalis et Hortulanus 1: 230 ( Weston 1770), nom. nud. – Malus sempervirens Desf. , Tableau de l’École de Botanique du Muséum d’Histoire naturelle: 173 ( Desfontaines 1804), nom. nud.

Malus angustifolia f. pendula Rehder , Journal of the Arnold Arboretum 2 (1): 53 ( Rehder 1920).

– Type: USA • Southeastern US ; 25 Jun. 1914; fl; T.G. Harbison 129; holotype: A [ A00026578 ] !

Examined specimens

UNITED STATES – Delaware • Sussex ; 24 Jun. 1943; st; R. McVaugh 6527; NY. – Florida • Leon ; 1843; fl; M. Rugel s.n.; K • ibid.; 7 Aug. 1895; fl; G.V. Nash 2366; K. – Georgia • Lumpkia ; 18 May 1982; st; X.Q. Chen et al. 817; NAS, PE • Columbia; 1884; st; Anonymous s.n.; P [ 00380801 ] • ibid.; Apr. 1945; fl; J.M. Franklin s.n.; P. – Maryland • Carroll ; 13 May 1881; fl; J.D. Smith s.n.; P • Worcester ; 14 May 1926; fl; C.E. Moldenke 2818; NY • Prince George’s; 7 May 1943; fl; R. McVaugh 6619; NY. – New Jersey • Cape May ; 9 Aug. 1914; fl; K.K. Mackenzie 6132; NY. – New York • Ontario ; 1 Oct. 1990; st; Professor Zhen-Long Yan 1041; PE • Bronx ; 24 May 1915; fl; J. Hartling 29851; NY. – North Carolina • Orange ; 8 Jun. 1986; fr; Y. Gu et al. 0066; NAS • Buncombe ; 27 Apr. 1994; fl; A.B. Russell 1490; PE • locality unknown; s.d.; fl; Greene s.n.; K [ 000758465 ]. – Pennsylvania • Allegheny ; May 1871; fl; S.W. Knipe s.n.; NY. – South Carolina • Richland ; 18 Jul. 2003; fr; J.B. Nelson 23934; W • Oconee ; 16 Apr. 1991; fl; Som with Botany 831 Class 121; PE. – Virginia • Bedford ; 26 May 1893; st; A.H. Curtiss s.n.; NY. – locality unknown • 1832; fl; Schweinitz s.n.; K • ibid.; 1833; fl; Drummond s.n.; K [ 000758467 ] .

Description

Small tree or shrub, 2‒3 m or 5‒7 (10) m high. Branches terete, pubescent when young, glabrescent. Leaves petiolate, petiole ca 1.0‒ 1.2 cm long, puberulous or glabrous. Lamina ca 3.6‒4.0 × 1.2‒1.7 cm, oval to ovate, base cuneate or rounded, equilateral, apex acute, rounded or obtuse, margin crenate to serrulate, blade glabrous or villus on midvein, sometimes lobed. Inflorescence corymbose, with 5‒8 flowers. Pedicel ca 2.2 cm long, glabrous. Hypanthium glabrous. Sepals triangular, abaxially glabrous, adaxially puberulous, persistent. Petals ca 1.1 × 0.6‒0.7 cm, pink or white, obovate to oblong. Stamens ca 20, unequal, with pink anther. Styles 5, longer than stamens, pubescent at base. Pome ca 1.0‒3.0 cm in diameter, subglobose, yellow. Carpopodium ca 2.4 cm long, glabrous.

Phenology

Flowers from February to May. Mature fruits from August to September.

Habitat

Terrestrial, seasonally green, growing in the forests and shrubs in open areas of valleys; 10‒700 m a.s.l.

Distribution

United States ( Fig. 47 ).

Chromosome numbers

2n = 34, 68.

Note

The specimen K000758465, collected from North Carolina, conforms to the protologues of Aiton (1789: 176) and Michaux (1803: 292). We therefore consider the neotype designated by Langenfeld (1991: 152) to be incorrect.

Figures

Fig. 47. Distribution of Malus angustifolia (Aiton) Michx.

Fig. 48. Morphological characters of Malus angustifolia (Aiton) Michx.; A00026578 (holotype of Malus angustifolia f. pendula Rehder), K000758463/K000758464, K000758465 (neotype), K000758468/K000758469, P03240208, P03240212, NYBG02812600. Scale bars = 10 mm.