Tall shrub or low tree with thorny branches, rarely to 10 m; lvs ovate to triangular-ovate to sometimes broadly lanceolate, acute or acuminate, mostly with rounded to cordate base, 4-10 cm, glabrous beneath or sparsely villous when young, serrate., or commonly with a few triangular lobes near the widest part; hypanthium and cal glabrous or sparsely villous; fls at first pink, fading white; anthers pink or salmon-color; fr subglobose, greenish, 2-3 cm; 2n=68. Woods and thickets; N.Y. to Mich., Ill., and occasionally Mo., s. irregularly to n. Ga., n. Ala., and ne. Ark. (Malus bracteata; M. coronaria; M. glaucescens; M. lancifolia) Hybrids of this with no. 5 [Pyrus angustifolia Aiton] or with P. malus are called P. ذlatycarpa L. H. Bailey.
Gleason, Henry A. & Cronquist, Arthur J. 1991. Manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States and adjacent Canada. lxxv + 910 pp.
