April 2017 in the northern hemisphere

[ArnoldT]

Gordon thanks,

My apologies Fermi.

Indeed it does list Pseudocydonia sinensis as a synonym for Chaenomeles sinensis.



It's a strange merge.

The Pseudocydonia is a thirty foot tree with fruit the size of a Rugby ball and the Chaenomeles is a small shrub at most 6 feet tall with a  small fruit the size of a cricket ball.

I have both within 100 feet of my house.

[GordonT]

I totally agree with you, Arnold. Hard to fathom how the thornless Pseudocydonia gets merged into Chaenomeles. Reclassifications sometimes seem so arbitrary ( the plant I once knew as Laelia purpurata, became Sophronitis purpurata, and now is known as Cattleya purpurata.... makes me wonder when will the madness stop?)Guess I'm old school at 56!

[ArnoldT]

Gordon:

I think this has to be a mistake.

Who does these things?

Not even close.

[Gabriela]

I feel the need to intervene. First it has been mentioned many times not to take The Plant List 'add literam', especially with complicated genera.

Pseudocydonia sinensis - is the chinese/korean quince shown by Arnold; small tree, solitary flowers, large fruits. Syn. have been going around for years as Chaenomeles sinensis, C. chinensis, Pyrus....

Chaenomeles japonica - is the japanese quince; the shrub with clustered flowers, small fruits; also C. speciosa and varieties - mostly cultivated as ornamental shrubs

Cydonia oblonga - is the tree quince of eastern origin with large fruits as well (which gives my favourite jam Fuzzy leaves, large white/pink flowers.

 All of them had interchangeable names since ancient times, syn. as Chaenomeles, Cydonia, Pyrus and so on....

[johnralphcarpenter]

Cydonia oblonga.

[ArnoldT]

Thank you Gabriela.