Mespilus | |
---|---|
Common medlar foliage and fruit | |
Scientific classification | |
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, 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, and in western parts of Caucasian Georgia. 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]
Mespilus forms deciduous large shrubs to small trees growing up to 8 m (26 ft) tall. The fruit is a matte brown pome.
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]
Image | Scientific name | Common Name | Distribution |
---|---|---|---|
Mespilus canescens | Stern's medlar | Prairie County, Arkansas, United States | |
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]
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 .
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".
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.
Rosaceae, the rose family, is a medium-sized family of flowering plants that includes 4,828 known species in 91 genera.
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.
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.
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.
The loquat is a large evergreen shrub or tree grown commercially for its orange fruit. It is also cultivated as an ornamental plant.
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.
Mespilus canescens, commonly known as Stern's medlar, is a large shrub or small tree, recently discovered in Prairie County, 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.
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.
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.
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.
Malacomeles, or false serviceberry, is a genus of flowering plants in the Rosaceae. It is most closely related to Amelanchier, Peraphyllum, Crataegus, and Mespilus.
Níspero, nipero, nêspera and mespel are terms referring to certain fruit-bearing trees, or to their fruit in particular:
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.
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.
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.