Plant/fruit identification request - Ask Extension
Hello! We have a large bush in our yard and it is producing fruit. I was hoping that you could help me identify it so I can determine whether it may b...
Knowledgebase
Plant/fruit identification request #815247
Asked October 26, 2022, 9:53 AM EDT
Hello! We have a large bush in our yard and it is producing fruit. I was hoping that you could help me identify it so I can determine whether it may be something possibly edible. The inside looks a bit like an apple.
Genesee County Michigan
Expert Response
Laura-
This looks like a quince! Quinces are very closely related to apples and pears -- All three are classified as 'pome fruit,' which is a category of fruit in the rose family (Rosaceae) that has a 'core' (like an apple). This is in contrast to 'stone fruit' like cherries and peaches which have a fleshy fruit with a hard pit.
Here are a couple of useful websites about them from extension programs in various states:
https://plantvillage.psu.edu/topics/quince/infos
http://www.hort.cornell.edu/fruit/mfruit/quince.html
http://arnoldia.arboretum.harvard.edu/pdf/articles/2009-67-1-cydonia-oblonga-the-unappreciated-quince.pdf
This looks like a quince! Quinces are very closely related to apples and pears -- All three are classified as 'pome fruit,' which is a category of fruit in the rose family (Rosaceae) that has a 'core' (like an apple). This is in contrast to 'stone fruit' like cherries and peaches which have a fleshy fruit with a hard pit.
Here are a couple of useful websites about them from extension programs in various states:
https://plantvillage.psu.edu/topics/quince/infos
http://www.hort.cornell.edu/fruit/mfruit/quince.html
http://arnoldia.arboretum.harvard.edu/pdf/articles/2009-67-1-cydonia-oblonga-the-unappreciated-quince.pdf
