Plantae > Tracheophyta > Magnoliopsida > Rosales > Rosaceae > Mespilus > Mespilus germanica

Mespilus germanica (Common Medlar)

Synonyms:

Wikipedia Abstract

Mespilus germanica, known as the medlar or common medlar, is a large shrub or small tree, and the name of the fruit of this tree. The fruit has been cultivated since Roman times, and is unusual in being available in winter, and in being eaten when bletted. It is eaten raw and in a range of dishes. When the genus Mespilus is included in the genus Crataegus, the correct name for this species is Crataegus germanica Kuntze.
View Wikipedia Record: Mespilus germanica

Infraspecies

Mespilus germanica f. apyrena
Mespilus germanica f. germanica

Attributes

Allergen Potential [1]  Medium-Low
Edible [2]  May be edible. See the Plants For A Future link below for details.
Flower Type [2]  Hermaphrodite
Hazards [2]  The seeds contain the toxic hydrocyanic acid (the substance that gives almonds their flavour) and should not be eaten in quantity;
Leaf Type [2]  Deciduous
Lifespan [3]  Perennial
Pollinators [2]  Bees
Structure [2]  Tree
Usage [2]  Wood - hard, flexible;
Height [2]  20 feet (6 m)
Width [2]  20 feet (6 m)
Light Preference [4]  Mixed Sun/Shade
Soil Acidity [4]  Moderate Acid
Soil Moisture [4]  Mostly Dry
View Plants For A Future Record : Mespilus germanica

Protected Areas

Predators

Consumers

Parasitized by 
Agrilus sinuatus[8]
Gymnosporangium confusum[8]
Phyllactinia mali[8]
Podosphaera leucotricha[8]

External References

USDA Plant Profile

Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
♦ 1Derived from Allergy-Free Gardening OPALS™, Thomas Leo Ogren (2000)
♦ 2Plants For A Future licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
♦ 3PLANTATT - Attributes of British and Irish Plants: Status, Size, Life History, Geography and Habitats, M. O. Hill, C. D. Preston & D. B. Roy, Biological Records Centre, NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (2004)
♦ 4Ellenberg, H., Weber, H.E., Dull, R., Wirth, V., Werner, W., Paulissen, D. (1991) Zeigerwerte von Pflanzen in Mitteleuropa. Scripta Geobotanica 18, 1–248
♦ 5Biological Records Centre Database of Insects and their Food Plants
♦ 6HOSTS - a Database of the World's Lepidopteran Hostplants Gaden S. Robinson, Phillip R. Ackery, Ian J. Kitching, George W. Beccaloni AND Luis M. Hernández
♦ 7Ben-Dov, Y., Miller, D.R. & Gibson, G.A.P. ScaleNet 4 November 2009
♦ 8Jorrit H. Poelen, James D. Simons and Chris J. Mungall. (2014). Global Biotic Interactions: An open infrastructure to share and analyze species-interaction datasets. Ecological Informatics.
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0