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Good morning, on a sunny Saturday. I promise not to write about the sub-prime rate freeze this morning. That said, here is the weekly contribution from my tree-loving friend, Pieter Severynen, ‘Tree of the Week.’

Quince Tree – Cydonia oblonga

‘The (fruiting) quince will never win a popularity contest. It is a small, fairly slow growing, deciduous fruit tree, 10-25’ tall and wide with oval 2-4” leaves that are green above, whitish below. Its branches are gnarled and twisted. The white-to-pale pink 2” flowers, while attractive, are fairly small in number. They appear mainly at the very end of long new growth branches, which means that the tree humbles those of us who like to control and shape our plants by pruning. The hard, golden yellow, fuzzy, apple-to-pear shape 3-4” fruit of the varieties grown here must be cooked to make them edible, although the longer they stay on the tree the softer they get. Like many members of the rose family, the quince tree has some susceptibility to fire blight. But if you can live with these qualities, then it is an interesting, quietly beautiful tree the fruit of which makes an absolutely delicious strongly aromatic jam or ‘quince sauce’, which turns orange if cooked long enough (especially with peels present and later removed). Fruit is also great baked or stewed.

‘While a native of the Eastern Mediterranean, the tree got its name ‘Kydonian apple’ from the ancient Greeks who used a graft from a superior variety grown in the Cretan port of Kydonia. Many references to ‘apple’ from classical literature probably pertain to the quince instead. The tree is self-fertile, requires moderate water, little care and full sun. Don’t cultivate near the roots, don’t feed it high nitrogen fertilizer and remove any suckers. Most varieties such as ‘Apple’, ‘Smyrna’ or ‘Van Deman’ need cooking, many have strong pineapple flavor. ‘Aromatnaya’ can be eaten fresh, as can other varieties not grown here. The tree is often used as a rootstock for pear, to give the pear better production characteristics.
The fruiting quince should not be confused with the flowering quince, Chaenomeles species, which are early blooming, thorny shrubs, that produce small, inedible fruits.’

Thanks, Pieter. Thoughts? Comments? Email story tips to peter.viles@latimes.com.
Photo credit: Arthur Lee Jacobson