Malus prunifolia (plumleaf crab apple, "Inuringo")

Japanese name: イヌリンゴ （犬林檎）
Scientific name: Malus prunifolia

[Overview]
A deciduous small tree 3–8 m tall.
Young branches are densely covered with woolly hairs.
Leaves are simple and alternate, elliptic to ovate, 5–9 cm long and 4–5 cm wide, with fine serrations on the margin.
Both sides of the leaves are softly hairy until flowering and later become hairless.
The petiole is 1–5 cm long and is at first densely covered with soft hairs.
Four to ten flowers are borne in umbel-like clusters at the tips of short shoots; they are 4–5 cm across, five-petaled, reddish in bud and white when open.
There are 20 stamens of uneven length, about 1/3 the length of the petals.
The flower stalks are heavily hairy.
The fruit is an obovoid-globose pome about 2–2.5 cm across, ripening red to yellow, with the sepals remaining at the top.

[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed, by cuttings, or by grafting.
It prefers a sunny, well-drained, well-aerated, moderately moist and fertile site.
Avoid dry places and places exposed to strong afternoon sun.
For potted plants, water thoroughly when the soil surface dries; for plants in the ground, rainfall is sufficient unless summer brings a long spell of sunny weather and the soil dries out.
Apply organic fertilizer in winter, and give fertilizer after flowering.
Pests and diseases include cedar apple rust, powdery mildew, anthracnose, leaf curl, leaf rollers and aphids.

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