2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
German medlar (lat. Mespilus germanica) - a useful fruit crop from the Rose family.
Description
German medlar is a beautiful deciduous fruit tree, which is related to the Japanese medlar and rarely grows to a height of more than eight meters. Typically, the average height of these trees ranges from four to seven meters.
The leaves of the plant are elliptical and dark green. Their length reaches from eight to fifteen centimeters, and their width is from three to four centimeters. Before falling off in the fall, the leaves change their color to a spectacular red. And the German medlar blooms in April and May with five-petal white flowers.
The fruits of this culture are colored in reddish-brownish tones and reach a diameter of two to three centimeters, and from below they are attached to permanent unfolded sepals. These fruits are characterized by a firm consistency (almost like a quince), and they taste rather sour.
Where grows
The homeland of this culture is the countries of South-West Asia and distant South-East Europe. Once upon a time, thanks to the enterprising Romans, the most useful German medlar came to Germany. The ancient Greeks began to cultivate this culture around 700 BC, and the ancient Romans adopted this tradition closer to 200 BC. And since then, right up to the Middle Ages, she played a huge role in the culture of most southern European states. However, closer to the seventeenth-eighteenth century, interest in it began to fade away, and the German medlar was supplanted by other cultures. To this day, she can be found there infrequently.
Sometimes this culture can also be seen in garden protection plantings in Ukraine, for example, in Uman - it was brought there back in Soviet times to be used as a weak rootstock for pears.
Application
The fruits of such medlar are used only after frostbite (in this case, they shrink and decrease in volume) or long-term storage. The frozen pulp gradually softens, resulting in the fruit becoming sweeter. That is why they prefer to collect these fruits when the first frosts hit.
Excellent compotes are obtained from these wonderful fruits, and they are also widely used in the confectionery industry and excellent liqueurs insist on them.
In the medical (however, in the food too) meaning, these fruits are similar to hawthorn, which is not surprising, because these cultures are the closest relatives.
This type of medlar contains an impressive amount of vitamin C, which helps to strengthen the immune system, improve the condition of blood vessels and prevent blood clots. And the tannins present in these berries endow these fruits with excellent wound healing, hemostatic and anti-inflammatory properties. In addition, these fruits are an excellent prophylactic agent against atherosclerosis and a number of cancers.
Unripe fruits, as well as leaves and bark of the German medlar are actively used in tanning leather, as well as to obtain yellow and brown dyes for fabrics.
Contraindications
When using German medlar, the likelihood of individual intolerance or allergic reactions is not excluded.
Growing and caring
The German medlar is very partial to slightly acidic soils and areas well-lit by the sun, and this plant also needs mild winters and warm summers.
Recommended:
Common Medlar
Common medlar is one of the plants of the family called Rosaceae, in Latin the name of this plant will sound like this: Mespilus germanica L. As for the name of the common medlar family itself, in Latin it will be like this: Rosaceae Juss. Description of common medlar Common medlar is known by popular names:
Medlar - A Grateful Southerner
Fruits and berries, as a rule, are harvested before the first cold weather. But in the case of the medlar, an exception is made. While the leafless autumn trees are preparing for their winter sleep, this southerner is just ready to share her harvest. A light frost will give its fruits even more juiciness and taste. Is it possible to grow such an original, southern tree in our latitudes?
