Mespilus

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Mespilus
Medlar pomes and leaves.jpg
Common medlar foliage and fruit
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Rosales
Family: Rosaceae
Subfamily: Amygdaloideae
Tribe: Maleae
Subtribe: Malinae
Genus: Mespilus
Bosc ex Spach
Species

Mespilus germanica

Common medlar flowers Medlar blossom.JPG
Common medlar flowers
Medlar fruit, cv. 'Nefle Precoce' Mespilus germanica Nefle Precoce.jpg
Medlar fruit, cv. 'Nefle Precoce'

Mespilus, commonly called medlar, is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the family Rosaceae containing the single species Mespilus germanica of southwest Asia. It is also found in some countries in the Balkans, especially in Albanian and Bulgarian regions. A second proposed species, Mespilus canescens , discovered in North America in 1990, proved to be a hybrid between M. germanica and one or more species of hawthorn, and is properly known as × Crataemespilus canescens. [1]

Contents

Plant

Mespilus forms deciduous large shrubs to small trees growing up to 8 m (26 ft) tall. The fruit is a matte brown pome.

History

Mespilus germanica is apparently native only to southwest Asia and southeastern Europe, i.e. near the Black Sea coast and western Mediterranean, and Asia Minor, as well as the Caucasus and northern Iran, but it has an ancient history of cultivation and wild plants exist in a much wider area; it was grown by the ancient Greeks and Romans, beginning in the second century BC. It was a very popular fruit in Western Europe during the Middle Ages, but has fallen out of favour there. [2]

Extant Species

ImageScientific nameCommon NameDistribution
Mespilus canescens - Missouri Botanical Garden.jpg Mespilus canescens Stern's medlarPrairie County, Arkansas, United States
Medlar pomes and leaves.jpg Mespilus germanica medlar or common medlar Tabaristan (Iran), southwest Asia and also southeastern Europe

Within the subfamily Amygdaloideae, Mespilus is most closely related to Crataegus , Amelanchier , Peraphyllum , and Malacomeles . [3]

The genus Eriobotrya was once considered to be closely related to Mespilus. The loquat, one of several Eriobotrya species, was formerly thought to be closely related to the genus Mespilus, and is still sometimes known in some European countries as a medlar and is still sometimes called the "Japanese medlar".

Many authors group Mespilus together with Crataegus in a single genus. When thus combined, the correct species name is Crataegus germanica (L.) Kuntze. [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]

The common name “snowy mespilus” attaches to certain species of Amelanchier, notably Amelanchier lamarckii and Amelanchier ovalis .

Fruit

Mespilus germanica features an unusual apple-like fruit. In southern Europe, the medlar fruit ripen fully and can be eaten off the tree, but in northern climates, they require bletting to eat. [10] This process involves ripening fruit off the tree, usually in a bowl, until soft. Each fruit contains a half dozen or so hard, irregularly shaped seeds that require stratification to germinate. Many cultivars exist, and they are increasingly popular selections carried by perennial and edible landscaping nurseries in North America.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosaceae</span> Rose family of flowering plants

Rosaceae, the rose family, is a medium-sized family of flowering plants that includes 4,828 known species in 91 genera.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maloideae</span> Subfamily of flowering plants

The MaloideaeC.Weber was the apple subfamily, a grouping used by some taxonomists within the rose family, Rosaceae. Recent molecular phylogenetic evidence has shown that the traditional Spiraeoideae and Amygdaloideae form part of the same clade as the traditional Maloideae, and the correct name for this group is Amygdaloideae. Earlier circumscriptions of Maloideae are more-or-less equivalent to subtribe Malinae or to tribe Maleae. The group includes a number of plants bearing commercially important fruits, such as apples and pears, while others are cultivated as ornamentals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amygdaloideae</span> Subfamily of flowering plants

Amygdaloideae is a subfamily within the flowering plant family Rosaceae. It was formerly considered by some authors to be separate from Rosaceae, and the family names Prunaceae and Amygdalaceae have been used. Reanalysis from 2007 has shown that the previous definition of subfamily Spiraeoideae was paraphyletic. To solve this problem, a larger subfamily was defined that includes the former Amygdaloideae, Spiraeoideae, and Maloideae. This subfamily, however, is to be called Amygdaloideae rather than Spiraeoideae under the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants as updated in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pome</span> Fruit with apple-like features

In botany, a pome is a type of fruit produced by flowering plants in the subtribe Malinae of the family Rosaceae. Pome fruits consist of a central "core" containing multiple small seeds, which is enveloped by a tough membrane and surrounded by an edible layer of flesh. Pome fruit trees are deciduous, and undergo a dormant winter period that requires cold temperatures to break dormancy in spring. Well-known pomes include the apple, pear, and quince.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Loquat</span> Species of plant

The loquat, called biwa in Japan, is a large evergreen shrub or tree grown commercially for its orange fruit and for its leaves, which are used to make herbal tea. It is also cultivated as an ornamental plant.

<i>Mespilus germanica</i> Fruit tree, the medlar

Mespilus germanica, known as the medlar or common medlar, is a large shrub or small tree in the rose family Rosaceae. The fruit of this tree, also called medlar, has been cultivated since Roman times, is usually available in winter and eaten when bletted. It may be eaten raw and in a range of cooked dishes. When the genus Mespilus is included in the genus Crataegus, the correct name for this species is Crataegus germanica (Kuntze). In the southwest of England it historically had a number of vulgar nicknames, such as open-arse and monkey's bottom, due to the appearance of its large calyx.

<i>Mespilus canescens</i> Species of tree

Mespilus canescens, commonly known as Stern's medlar, is a large shrub or small tree, recently discovered in [[Prairie County,Armenia ,Arkansas]], United States, and formally named in 1990. It is a critically endangered endemic species, with only 25 plants known, all in one small wood, now protected as the Konecny Grove Natural Area.

<i>Peraphyllum</i> Genus of flowering plants

Peraphyllum is a monotypic genus of flowering plants in the rose family, containing the single species Peraphyllum ramosissimum, commonly known as the squaw apple or wild crab apple.

Bletting is a process of softening that certain fleshy fruits undergo, beyond ripening. There are some fruits that are either sweeter after some bletting, such as sea buckthorn, or for which most varieties can be eaten raw only after bletting, such as medlars, persimmons, quince, service tree fruit, and wild service tree fruit. The rowan or mountain ash fruit must be bletted and cooked to be edible, to break down the toxic parasorbic acid (hexenollactone) into sorbic acid.

<i>Amelanchier <span style="font-style:normal;">×</span> lamarckii</i> Species of flowering plant

Amelanchier × lamarckii, also called juneberry, serviceberry or shadbush, is a large deciduous flowering shrub or small tree in the family Rosaceae.

Medlar is a large shrub or small tree cultivated for its edible fruits.

Crataegus brachyacantha is one of the "black-fruited" species of hawthorn, but it is only very distantly related to the other black-fruited species such as C. douglasii or C. nigra. The common names blueberry haw and blueberry hawthorn refer to the appearance of the fruit, which are almost blue, and does not refer to their taste. The species is rarely cultivated but has ornamental leaves, flowers, and foliage. It is native to Louisiana, and also occurs just across the border of neighbouring states.

Crataegus collina is a type of hawthorn that is closely related to C. punctata, the dotted hawthorn, and sometimes considered to be the same species. A sample of C. collina and C. punctata has suggested that C. collina is polyploid, and C. punctata is diploid, but a wider sample is needed to confirm that this is generally the case.

<i>Crataegus punctata</i> Species of hawthorn

Crataegus punctata is a species of hawthorn known by the common names dotted hawthorn or white haw that is native to most of the eastern United States and eastern Canada. While some sources claim it is the state flower of Missouri, the actual legislation does not identify an exact species. Furthermore, the Missouri Department of Conservation asserts the Crataegus mollis was specifically designated as the state flower.

<i>Malacomeles</i> Genus of flowering plants

Malacomeles, or false serviceberry, is a genus of flowering plants in the Rosaceae. It is most closely related to Amelanchier, Peraphyllum, Crataegus, and Mespilus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Níspero</span> Index of plants with the same common name

Níspero, nipero, nêspera and mespel are terms referring to certain fruit-bearing trees, or to their fruit in particular:

<i>Crataegus phippsii</i> Species of hawthorn

Crataegus phippsii is a species of hawthorn native to south-central British Columbia, Washington state, and Montana. It forms a shrub or small tree to 7 m in height with leaves that have white hair on the underside, and fruit that ripen through red to purplish black. It appears to have potential as an ornamental plant.

Stigmella oxyacanthella is a moth of the family Nepticulidae, found in Europe and North America. The larvae are leaf miners feeding inside the leaves of trees and shrubs, such as hawthorn, apple and pear.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maleae</span> Tribe of flowering plants

The Maleae are the apple tribe in the rose family, Rosaceae. The group includes a number of plants bearing commercially important fruits, such as apples and pears, while others are cultivated as ornamentals. Older taxonomies separated some of this group as tribe Crataegeae, as the Cydonia group, or some genera were placed in family Quillajaceae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malinae</span> Subtribe of flowering plants

Malinae is the name for the apple subtribe in the rose family, Rosaceae. This name is required by the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants, which came into force in 2011 for any group at the subtribe rank that includes the genus Malus but not either of the genera Rosa or Amygdalus. The group includes a number of plants bearing commercially important fruits, such as apples and pears, while others are cultivated as ornamentals.

References

  1. Flora of North America
  2. Baird, J.R.; Thieret, J.W. (1989). "The Medlar (Mespilus germanica, Rosaceae) from antiquity to obscurity". Economic Botany. 43 (3): 328–372. doi:10.1007/BF02858732.
  3. Campbell, C.S.; Evans, R.C.; Morgan, D.R.; Dickinson, T.A.; Arsenault, M.P. (2007). "Phylogeny of subtribe Pyrinae (formerly the Maloideae, Rosaceae): Limited resolution of a complex evolutionary history". Plant Systematics and Evolution. 266 (1–2): 119–145. CiteSeerX   10.1.1.929.4379 . doi:10.1007/s00606-007-0545-y. JSTOR   23655780.
  4. Scopoli, G.A. (1760). Flora Carniolica Exhibens Plantas Carniolae Indigenas et Distributas in Classes Naturales cum Differentiis Specificis, Synonymis Recentiorum, Locis Natalibus, Nominibus Incolarum, Observationibus Selectis, Viribus Medicis. p. 583.
  5. Castiglioni, L.G. 1790. Luigi Castiglioni's Viaggio travels in the United States of North America 1785–1787 with natural history commentary and Luigi Castiglioni's Botanical Observations: Viaggio negli Stati Uniti dell' America Settentrionalle fatto negli Anni 1785, 1786 e 1787....
  6. Moench, C. 1794. Methodus Plantas Horti Botanici et Agri Marburgensis: Reprint with introduction and biography by William T. Stearn. Otto Koeltz Antiquariat, Koenigstein-Taunus.
  7. Koch, K. 1869. Dendrologie: Bäume, Sträucher und Halbsträucher, welche in Mittel- un Nord- Europa in Freien kultivirt werden. Verlag von Ferdinand Enke, Erlangen.
  8. Kuntze, O. (1891). Revisio generum plantarum. Vol. 1. Leipzig: A. Felix. p. 215.
  9. Lo, E.; Stefanović, S.; Dickinson, T.A. (2007). "Molecular reapprasial of relationships between Crataegus and Mespilus (Rosaceae, Pyreae) – Two genera or one?". Systematic Botany. 32 (3): 596–616. doi:10.1600/036364407782250562. JSTOR   25064271.
  10. Eichhorn, Markus (July 2011). "Nottingham Medlar". Test Tube. Brady Haran for the University of Nottingham.