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Rosaceae family

Paradise Apple Malus pumila

Also known as: apple · domestic apple

Paradise Apple is an introduced perennial tree, found in Canada, the lower 48 states, and Saint-Pierre & Miquelon. It grows to 33 ft and blooms Apr – Jun.

⚠ Invasive here — plant a native instead USDA + GBIF

Paradise Apple is flagged invasive in the U.S. These natives fill a similar niche — same growth habit, bloom season, height, and region — so you keep the look and feed local wildlife instead of spreading a problem.

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Native
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Quercus ilicifolia
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Dwarf Chinquapin Oak
Native
Dwarf Chinquapin Oak
Quercus prinoides
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Clammy Locust
Native
Clammy Locust
Robinia viscosa
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Matched on growth habit · bloom months · mature height · shared U.S. range (USDA + GBIF) — a starting point, not a prescription.

Growing & care

USDA PLANTS · TRY
Conditions
Sources · Conditions
Cold hardiness (derived) — Hardiness
Niinemets & Valladares 2006 (CC0) — Drought tolerance · Shade tolerance · Wet-soil tolerance
Hardiness
≥ zone 5 derived from its U.S. range
Drought tolerance
Moderate
Shade tolerance
Low
Wet-soil tolerance
Low waterlogging
Size & form
Sources · Size & form
TRY Plant Trait Database (CC BY 4.0) — Height · Foliage
USDA PLANTS — Lifespan
Height
33 ft
Lifespan
Perennial
Foliage
Deciduous broadleaf
In the garden
Sub-canopy / understory layer — Sits in the understory of a layered food forest or polyculture. Its deep roots also work the lower soil profile.Open guide →
derived roles
The garden year bloom → fruit → fall colour
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Bloom
Bloom (the flower's colour)
Bloom · Apr – Jun — 122 obs · Herbarium specimens — Park et al. 2023 (CC BY 4.0)
Species characteristics from USDA PLANTS (public domain) + TRY (CC BY) — general guidance, not a guarantee for your exact site. Deer "browsing" is documented palatability, not a deer-proof claim.

Wildlife & pollinators

How pollinator value is scored →
❧ Caterpillar hosts ~308 caterpillar species · keystone genus

Malus supports ~308 caterpillar species.

Native butterfly & moth caterpillars are the base of the terrestrial food web — most songbirds rear their young almost entirely on them. As a host for native Lepidoptera this is a powerhouse genus.

Recorded feeding on Malus in North America, including:

Abagrotis alternata · Greater Red Dart ✦ Abagrotis barnesi · owlet moth ✦ Abagrotis cupida · Cupid Dart ✦ Abagrotis placida · Red Cutworm Moth ✦ Acleris holmiana · leafroller moth ✦ Acleris logiana · leafroller moth ✦
+ 8 more species →
Acleris maculidorsana · Stained-Back Leafroller ✦ Acleris maximana · leafroller moth ✦ Acleris minuta · Yellowheaded Fireworm Moth ✦ Acleris nivisellana · Snowy-Shouldered Acleris ✦ Acrobasis indigenella · Leaf Crumpler Moth ✦ Acrobasis tricolorella · Tricolored Acrobasis Moth ✦ Acronicta americana · American Dagger Moth ✦ Acronicta clarescens · Clear Dagger Moth ✦
Keystone count (genus-level) from Warren II 2026 (CC0) · Tallamy host-use records. Named species (a documented Nearctic sample, not exhaustive) from NHM HOSTS (CC0). ✦ = recorded on this exact species.
Species thumbnails re-hosted from iNaturalist — Creative Commons, credited per image (hover for credit). Click any species to see it on iNaturalist. Not exhaustive; many taxa have no openly-licensed photo yet.
How we know this (2) Methods & honest limits
Leaf build Direct fact

We read each species’ measured specific leaf area (leaf area per unit dry weight) from the Global Spectrum dataset and band it: thin & fast (high SLA), medium, or thick & tough (low SLA). The global median is about 10 mm²/mg.

Honest limits: A species-mean from pooled measurements — individual plants vary with light and site. A broad strategy signal, not a precise per-plant figure.

Díaz, S. et al. (2022) The global spectrum of plant form and function: enhanced species-level trait dataset. Scientific Data 9:755.
Photosynthesis Direct fact

A recorded categorical fact: each species is tagged C3 (standard), C4 (heat/water-efficient) or CAM (succulent, night-time CO₂ uptake) — or a facultative combination. We only show a trait card for the noteworthy C4/CAM cases; C3 is the unremarkable majority, kept in the data but not surfaced as a card.

Kattge, J. et al. TRY plant trait database — Categorical Traits Dataset (2012).
Derived values are computed from open data by a published method — labelled, cited, and never shown as a direct observation. Full methodology →
Sources for this entry (19) Open & cited
[01] Scientific name & family — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[02] Growth habit & duration — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[03] Native status & distribution — USDA PLANTS (DwCA, Zenodo 17903503)
[04] Common name — USDA PLANTS (via GBIF)
[05] Invasive / introduced status — US-RIIS v2.0 (USGS)
[07] Ecological value — Warren II 2026 (CC0) · Tallamy host-use counts
[11] Functional traits — TRY Plant Trait Database (CC BY 4.0)
[12] Photosynthetic pathway — TRY Plant Trait Database (CC BY 4.0)
[13] Cold hardiness (derived) — Derived from U.S. range × USDA PHZM zones
[14] Rooting depth — Fan et al. 2017 (Dryad, CC0)
[16] Other common names — Wikidata (CC0)
[17] Stress tolerance — Niinemets & Valladares 2006 (CC0)
[18] Caterpillar host count — Warren II 2026 (Dryad, CC0) · Tallamy host-use counts
[19] Caterpillar species — NHM HOSTS (CC0)
Spot an error or have a better photo? Every field links to its source, and the whole dataset is open.
Cite this page Open data, please attribute

PlantKey’s data is open under CC BY-SA 4.0 — free to reuse and adapt, with attribution and the same licence. Photos keep their own per-image licence + credit (see Sources above).

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