A tree 20 to 40 ft high, often a shrub; branchlets slender, more or less downy. Leaves variously shaped, from broadly ovate to oblong-lanceolate, often three-lobed, the largest 4 in. long, and 21⁄2 in. wide, more often 1 to 3 in. long, and half as wide, the base tapering, rounded or slightly heart-shaped, pointed at the apex, sharply toothed, downy on both sides; stalk downy, 1 to 11⁄2 in. long. Flowers white or rose-tinted, 3⁄4 in. across, produced in clusters of six to twelve. Fruits egg-shaped, 1⁄2 to 3⁄4 in. long, red, yellow, or greenish yellow, the calyx teeth fallen away; stalks 1 to 11⁄2 in. long, slender. Bot. Mag., t. 8798.
Native of western N. America; introduced in 1836, according to Loudon, but little known in cultivation now, although it is offered sometimes in tree catalogues of continental firms. It belongs to the same group as M. sieboldii, but appears to have no special value for the garden. The fruit has an agreeable sub-acid taste, and the wood, being close and hard, is valued in the western States for uses similar to those of apple- and pear-wood in this country.