I was given this tonight by someone who lives in Westbury on Trym. She has
seen these fruits growing on a bush (not a tree) in a garden and picked two
up off the road. They smell very faintly citrusy to me and each seed
chamber has two seeds in each side. She's not a gardener so can only tell
me that the leaves are leaf shaped, not huge, not leathery and that the
fruits are autumnal.
http://i16.tinypic.com/7x8rupj.jpg

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

On 28/11/07 22:42, in article
, "Sacha"
wrote:

I was given this tonight by someone who lives in Westbury on Trym. She has
seen these fruits growing on a bush (not a tree) in a garden and picked two
up off the road. They smell very faintly citrusy to me and each seed
chamber has two seeds in each side. She's not a gardener so can only tell
me that the leaves are leaf shaped, not huge, not leathery and that the
fruits are autumnal.
http://i16.tinypic.com/7x8rupj.jpg

Whoops, sorry - forgot to say that's a not very huge almond at the back,
just there to give scale.

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

In article ,
Sacha writes:
| I was given this tonight by someone who lives in Westbury on Trym. She has
| seen these fruits growing on a bush (not a tree) in a garden and picked two
| up off the road. They smell very faintly citrusy to me and each seed
| chamber has two seeds in each side. She's not a gardener so can only tell
| me that the leaves are leaf shaped, not huge, not leathery and that the
| fruits are autumnal.
| http://i16.tinypic.com/7x8rupj.jpg

They are very like a Chaenomeles, but with larger and fewer pips
and more pronounced grooves than the norm. I would bet on that,
but can't guess the variety (it's not one I grow). If it is, the
flesh will be extremely sour, hard, with slight pear or quince
grittiness.

There are quite a few sub-tropical fruit that are very similar,
but I don't know of any that can be grown in the UK.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 28/11/07 23:30, in article , "Nick
Maclaren" wrote:


In article ,
Sacha writes:
| I was given this tonight by someone who lives in Westbury on Trym. She has
| seen these fruits growing on a bush (not a tree) in a garden and picked two
| up off the road. They smell very faintly citrusy to me and each seed
| chamber has two seeds in each side. She's not a gardener so can only tell
| me that the leaves are leaf shaped, not huge, not leathery and that the
| fruits are autumnal.
| http://i16.tinypic.com/7x8rupj.jpg

They are very like a Chaenomeles, but with larger and fewer pips
and more pronounced grooves than the norm. I would bet on that,
but can't guess the variety (it's not one I grow). If it is, the
flesh will be extremely sour, hard, with slight pear or quince
grittiness.

There are quite a few sub-tropical fruit that are very similar,
but I don't know of any that can be grown in the UK.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Chaenomeles crossed our minds but we've never seen any with these very
pronounced scoring in the skin. And this is a shrub, not a wall plant. I
think you've probably hit on something but it's going to be tough to pin
down. It's most definitely grown not far from their home - she sees it every
day taking the children to school. The thing is that it reminds me of
something so I wonder if you've started me in the right direction with the
Chaenomeles idea. The size of fruit would be about right.

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

In article , Sacha
writes


Chaenomeles crossed our minds but we've never seen any with these very
pronounced scoring in the skin.

What about

Hawthorn `Zlat` (means a golden).

Cultivar is endemic Crimean Pojarkova`s hawthorn - Crataegus pojarkovae
(Ñ. orientalis var. pojarkovae). The tree is about 3 m in height with
spineless branches. The fruit is ribbed globose to conical, yellow
golden, sour-sweet, excellent flavor. Fruit weight is 3 (5,5) g. Harvest
in mid-late September.


Janet
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

In article ,
Sacha writes:
|
| Chaenomeles crossed our minds but we've never seen any with these very
| pronounced scoring in the skin. And this is a shrub, not a wall plant. I
| think you've probably hit on something but it's going to be tough to pin
| down. It's most definitely grown not far from their home - she sees it every
| day taking the children to school. The thing is that it reminds me of
| something so I wonder if you've started me in the right direction with the
| Chaenomeles idea. The size of fruit would be about right.

Nor have I, about the first, but some types are pretty lumpy. The shrub
aspect is find - Chaenomeles are merely grown as wall plants out of
habit, and they don't have to be. C. speciosa, for example, is a fairly
conventional shrub.

There is one species of Chaenomeles that I have not seen (or at least
not noticed at Kew or elsewhere!) - C. cathayensis. Given that it
looks SO much like one of that group of the Rosaceae, and I can't
think of any that match except for Chaenomeles, that's work looking
into.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In article ,
Janet Tweedy writes:
|
| What about
|
| Hawthorn `Zlat` (means a golden).
|
| Cultivar is endemic Crimean Pojarkova`s hawthorn - Crataegus pojarkovae
| (Ñ. orientalis var. pojarkovae). The tree is about 3 m in height with
| spineless branches. The fruit is ribbed globose to conical, yellow
| golden, sour-sweet, excellent flavor. Fruit weight is 3 (5,5) g. Harvest
| in mid-late September.

Well, yes, but those fruit are well over 20 grammes.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In article ,
(Nick Maclaren) writes:
|
| There is one species of Chaenomeles that I have not seen (or at least
| not noticed at Kew or elsewhere!) - C. cathayensis. Given that it
| looks SO much like one of that group of the Rosaceae, and I can't
| think of any that match except for Chaenomeles, that's work looking
| into.

There is also Pseudocydonia sinensis, but that doesn't usually have
grooved fruit, either!


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In message , Nick Maclaren
writes

In article ,
Sacha writes:
|
| Chaenomeles crossed our minds but we've never seen any with these very
| pronounced scoring in the skin. And this is a shrub, not a wall plant. I
| think you've probably hit on something but it's going to be tough to pin
| down. It's most definitely grown not far from their home - she sees it every
| day taking the children to school. The thing is that it reminds me of
| something so I wonder if you've started me in the right direction with the
| Chaenomeles idea. The size of fruit would be about right.

Nor have I, about the first, but some types are pretty lumpy. The shrub
aspect is find - Chaenomeles are merely grown as wall plants out of
habit, and they don't have to be. C. speciosa, for example, is a fairly
conventional shrub.

There is one species of Chaenomeles that I have not seen (or at least
not noticed at Kew or elsewhere!) - C. cathayensis. Given that it
looks SO much like one of that group of the Rosaceae, and I can't
think of any that match except for Chaenomeles, that's work looking
into.

From Flora of China - "Pome fragrant, yellowish red, ovoid or
subcylindric, 6.7cm diam.". But the specimen I've seen labelled as
Chaenomeles cathayensis had green, and unribbed, fruits - but perhaps
they were unripe.

The photograph at

http://www.biologie.uni-ulm.de/systa...nocathafr1.htm

matches what I've seen (and the associated text contradicts the Flora of
China).

The ribbing seems to match Chaeonomeles japonica better. See, for
example

http://www.botanypictures.com/planti...onica%2002%20h
ortus%20a'dam.jpg

I skimmed the Flora of China. It seems that the only pomes in the right
size range are Malus, Pyrus, Cydonia and Chaenomeles (even Docynia is
smaller), so, assuming that it is indeed a pome, Chaenomeles is all
that's plausible.
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley

In message , Nick Maclaren
writes

In article ,
(Nick Maclaren) writes:
|
| There is one species of Chaenomeles that I have not seen (or at least
| not noticed at Kew or elsewhere!) - C. cathayensis. Given that it
| looks SO much like one of that group of the Rosaceae, and I can't
| think of any that match except for Chaenomeles, that's work looking
| into.

There is also Pseudocydonia sinensis, but that doesn't usually have
grooved fruit, either!

"Pome fragrant, dark yellow, narrowly ellipsoid, 10-15 cm, woody;"
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley

In article , (Nick Maclaren) writes:
|
| In article ,
| (Nick Maclaren) writes:
| |
| | There is one species of Chaenomeles that I have not seen (or at least
| | not noticed at Kew or elsewhere!) - C. cathayensis. Given that it
| | looks SO much like one of that group of the Rosaceae, and I can't
| | think of any that match except for Chaenomeles, that's work looking
| | into.
|
| There is also Pseudocydonia sinensis, but that doesn't usually have
| grooved fruit, either!

And Docynia, and possibly a few other genera that I have never heard
of! But I can't find any pictures or fruit descriptions of most of
them - Bean has enough to make grooving on Docynia doubtful, and to
rule out Heteromeles, but the Web fails pretty dismally.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On 29/11/07 09:01, in article , "Nick
Maclaren" wrote:


In article , (Nick
Maclaren) writes:
|
| In article ,
| (Nick Maclaren) writes:
| |
| | There is one species of Chaenomeles that I have not seen (or at least
| | not noticed at Kew or elsewhere!) - C. cathayensis. Given that it
| | looks SO much like one of that group of the Rosaceae, and I can't
| | think of any that match except for Chaenomeles, that's work looking
| | into.
|
| There is also Pseudocydonia sinensis, but that doesn't usually have
| grooved fruit, either!

And Docynia, and possibly a few other genera that I have never heard
of! But I can't find any pictures or fruit descriptions of most of
them - Bean has enough to make grooving on Docynia doubtful, and to
rule out Heteromeles, but the Web fails pretty dismally.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Thanks to you Nick, Stewart and Janet but I'm afraid it's still not pinned
down. None of the fruits you've discussed are grooved enough. I think you
could say these are about the size of a chestnut and in fact, the ribbing
makes me think of a peeled, cooked chestnut, though on these fruit it's
deeper, more pronounced. As I say, there's a faint citrus scent from it.
However, you've given me a few tracks to go down, so I'll let you know if it
does turn anything up. In the end, I suspect she'll just have to knock on
the door and ask - probably to be told it was there when the owner moved in!

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

In article , Sacha
writes

Thanks to you Nick, Stewart and Janet but I'm afraid it's still not pinned
down. None of the fruits you've discussed are grooved enough.

What about posting to the RHS?

--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

On 29/11/07 10:48, in article , "Janet
Tweedy" wrote:

In article , Sacha
writes

Thanks to you Nick, Stewart and Janet but I'm afraid it's still not pinned
down. None of the fruits you've discussed are grooved enough.

What about posting to the RHS?

Could do - good idea. I'll also ask her to knock on the door, though and to
take a photo of the whole thing. She describes the bush as looking as if
it's covered in lots of little pumpkins!

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
(remove weeds from address)
'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our
children.'

In article ,
Sacha writes:
| On 29/11/07 10:48, in article , "Janet
| Tweedy" wrote:
|
| What about posting to the RHS?
|
| Could do - good idea. I'll also ask her to knock on the door, though and to
| take a photo of the whole thing. She describes the bush as looking as if
| it's covered in lots of little pumpkins!

Critical aspects include whether the bush has thorns, and exactly
how the fruit are attached to it (e.g. whether via stems and on
what sort of age of wood).


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.