Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Soil:
Well-drained soil
Pollination:
Most varieties are self-fruitful.
Variety selection:
'Breda Giant' is noted for being particularly flavor-
ful.
Common medlar
,
Mespilus germanica
, is native to Europe and Asia Minor, al-
though authorities differ on where it actually originated. This fruit has been
cultivated for thousands of years and was well known to the ancient Greeks
and Romans.
Stern's medlar
,
Mespilus canescens
, was first described as a species in 1990
and consists of about 20 trees and large shrubs growing in Konecny Grove,
Arkansas. The genetics of Stern's medlar was debated for years. In 2009, the
Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission reported on research that suggests
Stern's medlar is actually a hybrid between common medlar and native blue-
berry hawthorn,
Crataegus brachyacantha
. At this point, Stern's medlar re-
mains a curiosity rather than a source of fruit.
Japanese medlar
or
loquat
,
Eriobotrya japonica
, is also a pome fruit related
to apples, pears, quince, and common medlar. We will discuss loquat later in
this chapter.
Common medlar forms small trees or large multistemmed shrubs that can
grow to about 25 feet tall. Cultivated varieties are more likely to be 8 to 20
feet tall and produce both showy blossoms in spring and attractive red fo-
liage in fall. The trees are normally grown freestanding with single trunks
and are spaced 7 to 20 feet apart within rows that are 15 to 20 feet apart.
