A tree with white or pink flowers depending on the variety, the buds deep pink and the open flowers paler, in umbel-like racemes of four to six on short upright pedicels (unlike the long drooping ones of the Hall crabapple); yellow fruit about 2 cm across. Endemic to China and the original haitang, called the immortal and the imperial consort among flowers; Su Shi's lines about burning tall candles to light its red face at night are about this tree.
Habitat
Plains and low hills, widely planted in gardens, temples and parks, especially common in the north; hardy and drought-tolerant.
Distribution
Endemic to China, native to Hebei, Jiangsu, Liaoning, Qinghai, Shaanxi, Shandong, Sichuan, Yunnan and Zhejiang; common in the parks of northern cities (Beijing, Xi'an) and the Forbidden City's imperial garden, grown in Japan (kaidō). Absent from Singapore.
Season and behaviour
April, mid-April in the north, after the magnolias and with the lilacs; a week to ten days.
Photography tips
These are the FilmAnalysis editors' notes, not content from the sources.
Deep pink buds beside pale pink open flowers on one branch are its best colour scale, a cluster in soft light; half a stop under for the white form. Beijing's red walls and yellow tiles are the traditional backdrop, compressed with a long lens. Lighting the blossom at night, as Su Shi's candles did, is worth trying for a lit still-life feel.
Photographic styles
Crabapple before a red wall; deep and pale pink of buds and flowers.
Similar species
Hall crabapple (slender drooping purple-red pedicels); Xifu crabapple (red buds opening pink-white, red edible fruit); apple blossom (larger leaves, pink-tinged, large fruit).
Related badge
None yet. No validated photo recognition exists for this species, so no badge is tied to it: a name in the encyclopedia is not evidence in a photograph.
The illustration is original FilmAnalysis artwork. No photographs yet: only photos cleared for commercial use with credit will be added.
Why it is listed: this species comes from the Flower checklist (GBIF backbone and Wikidata verified). Names follow the GBIF backbone and Wikidata; the facts follow the sources below; photo recognition is not offered.
