A small garden tree that produces an edible fruit.
Pronunciation
(MES-pi-lus)(jer-MAN-i-ka)
Plant Type
All Plants, Trees Deciduous
Hardiness Zone
(4)5-8
Sunlight
full
Moisture
aveage
Soil & Site
average, well drained
Flowers
white, blushed with pink, 5 petals, 2 inches
Fruit
pome, 1 inch , persisting sepals, rock hard when unripe, mussy when ripe, tastes like spiced applesauce
Leaves
green, simple, reddish to yellowish brown in fall, can have stem spines
Dimensions
small tree
Cultivar Origin
Introductions into North America about 1735.
Misc Facts
Genus name is derived for some authorities from Greek meso- (middle, half ) and pilos (ball) components with reference to the shape of the fruit. Germanica means from Germany.(#145)
Notes & Reference
#01-Manual of Woody Landscape Plants (Michael Dirr),#93-North American Landscape Trees (Arthur Lee Jacobson), #145-Plant Lives (Sue Eland) web site