What are the differences between crabapple and sand apple?

Different families

Crabapple is a plant of the Rosaceae family, a tree with gray-brown or dark brown bark and longitudinal cracks; sand apple is a plant of the genus Malus in the Rosaceae family, a small deciduous tree with oval or elliptical leaves and fine serrations on the edges.

Different flowering times

The crabapple usually blooms in April, and the flowers are white; the sand apple usually blooms at the turn of spring and summer, and is arranged in an umbrella shape at the top of the branches. The pedicels and calyx are covered with fuzz, and the flowers are red.

Different growing environment

Crabapples grow on hillsides, plains or valley terraces. Wild or cultivated crabapples grow on hills 60-200 meters above sea level or on sandy coastal wastelands. Sand apples often grow on hillsides, plains and valley terraces at an altitude of 50-1300 meters.

Different fruit shapes

The fruit of the crabapple is oval, with a diameter of 2-2.5 cm and a red skin; the fruit of the sand apple matures in autumn, is oblate, with a diameter of 4-5 cm, larger than the crabapple, and is a wild small apple with yellow or red fruit.