The following was received via email: Hello, I've recently become interested in different species of trees & discovered the Chinese quince (Pseudocydonia sinesis). In my opinion, it has every characteristic desirable in a tree (exfoliating tri-color puzzle bark, pink flowers with yellow centers, semi-evergreen shiny highly glossed leaves, edible fruit, fluted trunks, yellow/orange/red autumn foliage, cold hardiness to zone 5)...except, it doesn't have thorns. Do you know of any cultivar of the Chinese quince with thorns? Do you know of any university program that is developing such a tree? Regards, ~ Christine
Hi Christine, Thorns are often something that people try to breed out of landscape plants rather than the other way around. I do not know of any research on Chinese quince at UBC. Perhaps a forum reader will know if such a plant exists. Other quince (Chaenomeles) do have thorns. Have you considered those?
