Crab Apple

Malus sylvestria

Description
The Crab Apple is a small tree of general distribution in Britain.  It closely resembles the cultivated Apple and it tends to be only the size of the fruit and the taste that is different. The Crab Apple or Wild Apple was the wild ancestor of all cultivated Apple trees.  The Crab Apple rarely grows to its full height potential of 30 feet as it tends to be found in woods and copses and is normally cramped by other trees leading to a more bushy effect.  It is regularly found in hedgerows and is often apple seeds from orchard apples that have reverted to its ancestral roots.

The branches become pendant, with long shoots which will bear the dark green glossy leaves and flowers which appear in small clusters during April and May.  The buds are deeply tinged with pink on the outside and will expand to expose the flower.  The fruit develops in Autumn and is smaller than commercial apples and although sour is often used in jams or in Ireland in cider.

Uses
Crab apples contain pectin and are therefore ideally used as a thickener in jams as well as being used as a culture medium in laboratories. A red to yellow dye can be obtained from the bark.

The wood is an excellent fuel burning well.

Medicinal Uses
The fruit, bark, leaves and root can all be used in medicinal remedies. The Crab Apple is easily digested and in fact aids the digestion of other food stuffs which is why it such a good combination with rich meats such as pork. The fruit itself is astringent and a laxative and it is said a ripe juicy apple before bed will cure the worst constipation. Sour apples are especially useful. There is an old saying:

'To eat an apple going to bed
Will make the doctor beg his bread.'

The pulp can be crushed and used in poultices to heal inflammations or small flesh wounds. Cooked apples make a good local application for sore throat in fevers, inflammation of the eyes, erysipelas, etc. An old Lincolnshire remedy is to use crushed rotten apples in a poultice for sore eyes, and is still in use in some villages. The juice of the apple will help reduce stomach acidity. The bark, and especially the root bark, is anthelmintic, refrigerant and soporific and may be used in decoction for intermittent and bilious fevers. The leaves are antibacterial and can inhibit a number of bacteria.

The Crab Apple has the added use of being an excellent dentifrice. It is cleansing to the teeth because of the juices but is also hard enough to mechanically push back the gums so that the borders are cleared of deposits.

Folklore and Mythology
Throughout the British Isles the tradition of “Wassailing” was once common practise. Wassail (pronounced wossayl or wossâil) derives from the Old English words wÃ’s) hÃ’l which means variously “be healthy” or “be whole”.  In each region of the country there was different variations and therefore it can lead to confusion as to how the ceremony was actually performed, the time of year it took place and the meaning but generally it seems to have included celebrating the Orchard trees and making offering from the Wassail bowl for a plentiful harvest and in some cases then making loud noises to frighten evil spirits away from the fruit trees. The Wassail bowl was literally a bowl filled with hot spiced ale, wine or cider with bits of the apples and toast floating in it and was prepared just before dark and then ceremonially taken down to the orchard by those taking part in the ceremony.

Somerset and Dorset are particularly famous for the Wassailing tradition and originally the roasted Crab Apples were an indispensable part of the “wassail bowl” or “good brown bowl”.

'And sometime lurk I in a gossip's bowl
In very likeness of a roasted Crab'

This tradition has been changed after being adopted by the local brewery in the 1930's the Taunton Cider Company which adapted the festival to its own means.  This modernised tradition can still be seen performed in Carhampton, Somerset and Whimple in Devon.