Malus angustifolia (Southern Crab Apple) Exploration in Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama

A sixteen day and 4,947 mile exploration trip was carried out in September 2015 to collect native wild Malus angustifolia (Southern Crab Apple) in Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama. Fruit of 37 M. angustifolia trees were collected from 17 locations, 10 trees in Arkansas, 12 trees in Mississippi, 6 trees in Louisiana, and 9 trees in Alabama. Fruit of two muscadine grape (Vitis rotundifolia) were also collected in Arkansas. All fruit of Malus and Vitis were shipped or carried back to Plant Genetic Resource Unit, USDA-ARS at Geneva, NY. Seeds were extracted from all the fruit. A total of 7,006 Malus seeds were extracted. The numbers of seed ranged from 2 to 1,362, with an average seed number of 189 per tree. All seeds were processed, accessioned, and stored in the -20⁰C freezer at PGRU, Geneva, NY. Understanding the role of the M. angustifolia in the native habitat helps recognizing its morphology in the field, knowing the type of habitat it occupies, and assisting in its identification in the wild. One location in Arkansas and one location in Mississippi have large number of M. angustifolia trees and additional collection effort is needed in the future. Overall, the M. angustifolia germplasm is under threat due to urban development, land use option, extreme weather events, and gene flow from M. x domestica.