Habitat

• native to Canada down through Georgia and across to Kansas
• zone 4

Habit and Form

• a deciduous tree
• 15' to 25' tall
• 5' to 10' wide
• multi-stemmed
• medium texture
• medium growth rate

Summer Foliage

• deciduous simple leaves
• alternate leaf arrangement
• elliptic-oblong leaf shape
• 1.25" to 3" long
• cordate leaf base
• glabrous
• purple new growth
• dark green leaf color

Autumn Foliage

• yellow-orange to red fall color
• colors early and leaves fall early

Flowers

• white flowers
• glabrous pedicels
• 2" to 4" long
• blooms late April
• showy but short-lived

Fruit

• black pome fruit
• favorite or birds and other animals
• 0.66" in diameter

Bark

• slender glabrous stems
• reddish brown stem color
• older bark is a dull gray
• smooth
• striped

Culture

• full sun
• prefers wet sites
• generally pruned up to form small tree
• transplants easily

Landscape Uses

• for bark effect
• specimen planting
• small grouping
• flower effect

Liabilities

• rusts, scales, aphids and mildews

ID Features

• long, pointed buds with silky white hairs
• 0.5" long
• buds are green with red edges
• white flowers held in long racemes
• black, edible fruit
• alternate leaf arrangement

Propagation

• by seed

Cultivars/Varieties

'Cumulus' - Usually grown as a single-stem tree or grafted, this selection can be used where a small tree is called for. The habit is upright-oval with reduced horizontal branch spread (to 30' tall, 20' wide). Both flower set and fall color are very good, but some observers claim that this selection may be prone to fire blight damage..

'Prince Charles' - An upright form (to 25' tall) with early flowers before the leaves and fruit that supposedly is quite pleasant to the taste. New leaves are bronzy-red and the fall foliage is orange-red.

'R.J. Hilton' - A Canadian selection said to exhibit overall fine characteristics. The form is tree-like.

'Snowcloud' - A fastigiate form with a narrow outline (25' tall, 15' wide) and fine quality purple-black fruits. The summer foliage is blue-green and these leaves turn orange in fall.