Search results
Just a few centuries ago, the medlar was a well-known fruit tree that was commonly grown in Britain. Before the arrival of sugar, the fruit were considered a popular wintertime sweet treat, but they’ve fallen out of favour in recent centuries, perhaps owing to their ‘rotten’ appearance and their erstwhile nickname of ‘open-arse’ fruit.
Sep 26, 2019 · Medlar’s popularity revived in England during the Victorian era, when affluent households used it to create jellies and liquors for Christmas time. In recent years, medlar has been making a quiet comeback among foodies interested in forgotten or unusual fruits.
Mar 25, 2021 · Medieval Europeans were fanatical about a strange fruit that could only be eaten rotten. Then it was forgotten altogether. Why did they love it so much? And why did it disappear?
- An Unexpected Discovery
- The Search For A Name
- An Unconventional Collection
- Preserving An Unusual Hybrid
- Works Cited
Born in Little Rock, in 1918, Jane Ellenbogen Stern moved to the suburb of Pine Bluff at about age thirty, with her husband, Howard Stern, and their two children, Arthur and Ellen. Stern developed a long-standing love of the outdoors through birdwatching, which she became passionate about while Arthur was obtaining his Boy Scout nature badge. As he...
On July 10, 1969, Smith wrote to Stern with an initial classification of the mystery plant. “I must say, [this is one] of the most difficult plants I’ve received for identification,” Smith wrote. “The small tree is a type of Crataegus, ‘Hawthorn,’ in the Rose Family. The genus Crataegus is cursed with a very complex taxonomy which makes the individ...
The taxonomic and conservation status of the Stern’s medlar initially placed this plant on the radar of the A-OK expedition. When Woodruff and I pulled into the driveway at Tom Frothingham’s property, northwest of Little Rock, we were greeted by him and two colleagues, Lauren Goldstein and Connor Livingston. Woodruff and I could hardly contain ours...
Not only is Stern’s medlar a rare hybrid but it is visually appealing to boot. In September 1989, Stern wrote to Harold Grimmett, then the director of the Arkansas Natural Heritage Commission, urging him to request that Phipps withhold the location of the Stern’s medlar in his 1990 paper. “The plant is extremely attractive in appearance and can be ...
All archival correspondence and images were provided courtesy of the Jane E. Stern Collection, University of Central Arkansas Archives (M90-02, Series II, Sub-Series IV, Box 1, Files 12–17), Torreyson Library, University of Central Arkansas, Conway, Arkansas. Foti, T. 1971. The grand prairie. Ozark Society Bulletin, 5(4): 6–11. Freeman, F. D. 1948....
trees, the medlar (Fig. 1) has a history spanning possibly 30 centuries. In antiquity it may have been grown by the Assyrians and Babylonians; the Greeks and Romans knew it. The medlar was well known in Europe during the Middle Ages, where it is said to have held a high place among cultivated fruits (15). Today in Europe it is passing into ...
Nov 8, 2021 · Out of more than 100 different varieties of fruit trees grown in the Home Orchard Education Center Arboretum, one of our favorite cold season fruits to showcase comes from a striking tree, called: MEDLAR (Mespilus germanica) a member of the Rosaceae family. Most arboretum visitors have never heard of this unique fruit let alone eaten one. To ...
People also ask
Are medlar trees ready for harvest?
Why are medlar trees not widely grown?
Are medlar trees Rotten?
Where did medlar trees come from?
Do medlar trees have white flowers?
Do medlar trees produce fruit?
Dec 27, 2013 · When so many fruit trees offer an abundance of pink and white blossom in spring, it's striking to find one that doesn't. The medlar tree (Mespilus germanica) may not foam with flowers, but the large individual white blooms, against long glossy leaves, are very handsome. So why isn't it widely grown? Well, not many trees have a greater image ...
