my husband found this while working.. I can't seen to find it in any of my books . It came from a bush.. not a tree.. and all the leaves were gone.. so that is no help. any one know what this is??
a quince.? isn't that supposed to be a pear shape?? these are definatly round,, and they really don't have any smell what so ever??
[FONT=arial,sans-serif][SIZE=-1]Might be a Chaenomeles sp. People around here call them Japonica bushes, which refers to one of the species. Will probably need to see the flowers. There are other genera that are called quince.Photos of fruit[/SIZE][/FONT]
It may be a quince from the flowering quince family, but should not be confused with the more typical tree-fruit called quince, which is much different. We had a quince tree in our back yard, and got to know this interesting eastern European fruit. It is shaped like a pear though much larger, with similar seeds and very hard flesh. It is indeed very fragrant when ripe and makes outstanding preserves, or can be stewed with a little anise or cinnamon for an exotic compote. The tree itself was a specimen worth planting even without the fruit, for it has a stately but compact habit, blossoms that look like small magnolias and really interesting bark in winter. There are photos here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quince
