General Plant Information (Edit)
Plant Habit: Shrub
Tree
Life cycle: Perennial
Sun Requirements: Full Sun
Full Sun to Partial Shade
Water Preferences: Mesic
Dry Mesic
Minimum cold hardiness: Zone 6a -23.3 °C (-10 °F) to -20.6 °C (-5 °F)
Maximum recommended zone: Zone 11
Plant Height: 10 to 30 feet
Leaves: Good fall color
Deciduous
Other: Pubescent (densely hairy)
Fruit: Showy
Other: Reddish-brown Pome said to taste like Applesauce
Fruiting Time: Winter
Flowers: Showy
Flower Color: White
Bloom Size: 2"-3"
Flower Time: Late spring or early summer
Underground structures: Taproot
Uses: Flowering Tree
Edible Parts: Fruit
Eating Methods: Raw
Wildlife Attractant: Bees
Birds
Resistances: Humidity tolerant
Drought tolerant
Propagation: Seeds: Self fertile
Pollinators: Bees

Image
Common names
  • Medlar
  • Medlar Tree
  • Nispolero

Photo Gallery
Location: Sardinia, Italy
Date: 2017-09-12
Location: Sardinia, Italy

Date: 2020-09-16
Location: Levens Hall, Cumbria UK
Date: 2014-09-22

Date: 2022-04-16
Location: Botanical Garden Meise (near Brussels - Belgium)
Date: 2023-05-15
Location: Botanical Garden Meise (near Brussels - Belgium)
Location: Botanical Garden Meise (near Brussels - Belgium)
Date: 2023-05-15
Location: Botanical Garden Meise (near Brussels - Belgium)
Date: 2023-05-15
Location: Botanical Garden Meise (near Brussels - Belgium)
Location: Botanical Garden Meise (near Brussels - Belgium)
Date: 2023-05-15
Location: Botanical Garden Meise (near Brussels - Belgium)
Location: Chicago Botanical Gardens
Date: 2013-05-19
Just starting to fruit

Date: 2020-09-16
Not fully ripe(still firm)

Date: 2020-09-16
Location: Chicago Botanical Gardens
Date: 2013-05-19
Location: Levens Hall, Cumbria UK
Date: 2014-09-22
Comments:
  • Posted by skopjecollection (SE europe(balkans) - Zone 6b) on Sep 16, 2020 10:20 AM concerning plant:
    A short tree, with medium-sized leaves. Fruit, when ripe, is brown and resembles that of some varieties of rose, bearing 5 long sepals, fuzzy when unripe. It does well in a temperate climate, and it is seldom found here in people's yards. It is somewhat xeric, at least as far as fruit trees go.
    Fruit taste changes from simply dry and woody, to sweet, tart and astringent when ripe, to mostly sweet, slightly tart and soft when left to ferment (like most tannin filled fruits do). Taste can be best described as something between an apple, quince, and jam. Closest to it would be some Sorbus species.
    When consuming the fruit (for most people, best fermented) , one should be wary of the 5 seeds -- they are hard, and like most Rosid species, toxic in large quantities.

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