On Tue, 12 Mar 2013 11:30:09 +0000 (GMT), wrote:

In article ,
Sacha wrote:
On 2013-03-12 10:59:06 +0000, David Hill said:
On 12/03/2013 10:25, T i m wrote:

I wonder if anyone would be so kind and confirm what this fruit is
please? (We have an idea but don't want to seed anyone's mind sorry
by saying what). ;-)

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/5772409/What%20is%20it.jpg
Probably an ornamental crab apple if it's off a tree.

Or a Chaenomeles quince? An old one, that is. Ours hasn't finished
flowering yet. I did wonder about bletted medlar but the bottom of the
fruit probably isn't right.

No. Chaenomeles doesn't have stalks, and is almost always much
larger and with many more seeds and a better defined core. A crab
or wildling is the obvious answer, but I don't know if there are
any similar fruit in the Maloideae. It's fairly easy to check if
it belongs to the Pyrus/Cydonia/etc. group by checking if the flesh
has stone cells (i.e. feels slightly gritty to the teeth). If
not, it's almost certainly Malus or a close ally.



Thanks for all the interesting replies folks.

FWIW, the picture example I offered is typical of all the fruit left
on this tree.

Mum tasted a bit of one and she thinks it tasted 'appley', and not at
all sour or bitter (considering it was so small etc). We wondered if
it had sweetened up as it matured etc?

Would a picture of the tree or a leaf (if there are any) cinch it do
you think?

Cheers, T i m


p.s. If she's still got that sample I'll get her to check for the
stone cells etc.