15.) CYDONIA to MALUS

CYDONIA Mill.

Cydonia oblonga Mill. (Quince) /- Woodland Rare Widely cultivated but rarely found in wild situations such as woods and hedges (probably always as planted relics); mainly to the North of the region around Thornbury. A native of South West Asia; Quince was introduced to Britain in the 16th Century and its unique-flavoured fruit has long been used for making jams and jellies. Today it is more often used as a root stock for grafted pear trees. The word 'marmalade' originally referred specifically to quince jam and derives from the Portuguese name for quince 'marmelo'.

CHAENOMELES Lindl.

Chaenomeles speciosa (Sweet) Nakai (often cultivated as 'Geisha Girl', 'Nivalis', 'Moerloosei') (Chinese Quince) / General Very Rare A very rare garden escape; recorded at Stoke Bishop, Bristol in 1987 by I.F. Gravestock; to the East of Bristol [ST57] in 1987-1999 by an unknown recorder; and at Horfield in 2002 by ?.
Chaenomeles speciosa x C. japonica = C. x superba (Frahm) Rehder (Hybrid Quince) General Very Rare Was recorded on Woodland Road, Clifton in 2018 by an iNaturalist recorder [record on DB as C. japonica - needs to be changed] and at Eastville Park in 2023 by D. Peters - both as the cultivar 'crimson and gold'.

PYRUS L.

Pyrus calleryana Decne. var. calleryana (Callery Pear, Bradford Pear, Chanticleer Ornamental Pear) General Uncommon A native of East Asia which is widely planted in parks and public green spaces; mainly around Bristol and is becoming increasingly popular as a street tree. A number of cultivars exist but most of ours appears to be 'Chanticleer' - with slightly upward-facing growth, creating an egg-shaped outline.
Pyrus cordata Desv. (Plymouth Pear) Woodland Extinct This nationally rare pear (limited to a handful of sites in Cornwall), has historically been recorded in the Bristol region at two locations: Firstly from Bishopsworth, South Bristol in 1881 by W.H. Painter [this is presumably the same record mentioned by White (1912) under P. communis of a "tree (30 feet) by the brook at the bottom of Bishport Wood [an old name for Manor Wood?]; no fruit in 1881, a good fruiting year."] and secondly at "Yate Lower Common, near Rangeworthy, 2 or 3 trees at a wood edge... Although the trees seen in 1918 have disappeared, Mrs Sandwith found others in the same area, and at Wickwar, in 1937, with cordate leaves and small hard fruits, which are locally known as Choke Pigs... This variety has been much confused with the Wye Valley plant, and also with the Plymouth var. Briggsii Syme, from both of which it is quite distinct." (Riddelsdell, 1948 - under P. communis var. Déséglisei). What these differences were is not known; however today both our plants and the Wye Valley plants are accepted to be P. cordata. A preserved specimen of the Bishopsworth record exists in London Natural History Museum. Elsewhere, Plymouth Pear occurs across western Europe and North West Africa but in Britain it is suspected to be an archaeophyte (ancient introduction) - brought over with trade from Brittany (North West France) as a hedging plant several hundred years ago.

[The Bishopsworth record is on NBN and the Yate record on BSBI. Check if Bristol museum has records. Bishport appears to be an old name for Bishopsworth (see 1840s Tithe map). I can't find any wood next to a brook named 'Bishport Wood' on Know Your Place but there is a Bishport Ave today which runs from Hartcliffe to Withywood. It's possible that it's an old name for Manor Wood. W.H. Painter was a nationally recognised botanist, author of the Flora of Derbyshire and a resident of Bedminster in 1881.]

Pyrus pyraster (L.) Burgsd. ssp. pyraster (Wild Pear) - Woodland Scarce Sparsely scattered in old hedgerows and woodland; occuring mainly in the North of the region. Some records are probably mistakes for small-fruited P. communis - from which it is best told by the presence of spines.

[ssp. achras (Wallr.) Terpó is mentioned in Riddelsdell (1948) at Hillesley, just outside the region.]

Pyrus communis L. (ssp. communis) (Pear) - Woodland Uncommon Commonly cultivated and widely found bird-sown and arrising from discarded cores in hedges, scrub and along railway lines and roadsides. Pears have a long history of cultivation and are thought to have derrived from hybrids between the Wild Pear - Pyrus pyraster (widespread over Europe and East Asia) and the Caucasian Pear - P. communis ssp. caucasica (restricted to the Caucasus) and are believed to have been first introduced to Britain by the Romans.
Pyrus salicifolia Pall. (var. salicifolia) (Willow-leaved Pear) General Scarce A native of the Caucasus; widely planted for ornament in public green spaces around Bristol.

MALUS Mill.

Malus sylvestris (L.) Mill. (var. sylvestris) (Crab Apple) /- Woodland Uncommon Widespread but localised in old woods and hedgerows. The map shows it to be frequent but it is greatly over-recorded for small-fruited, self-seeded plants of M. domestica. It can be separated from the domestic apple by its normally spiny twigs, lack of hairs on the leaf undersides, pedicels and calyx and by it's small more yellowish fruit when ripe. P. domestic on the other hand is not spiny, has hairy leaf undersides, pedicels and calyx, and larger, more variable but often red-blushed fruit. Escaped small-fruited domestic apples have long been confused for the true crab apple. In historical texts the two were included under the same species as Pyrus malus and separated as var. acerba (the true crab apple) and var. mitis (escaped small-fruited apples) - "no doubt the original stock of all the cultivated apples." (White, 1912).
Malus domestica (Suckow) Borkh. (M. pumila Mill.) (Apple) / Woodland Frequent Very commonly grown and widely found in hedges, scrub and woodland and escaping from gardens, allotments and orchards onto marginal ground such as railway banks and roadsides. Many trees in more wild situations have no doubt sprung from flung out cores of past generations. It is not infrequent to come across fresh cores on regular walking routes, ensuring a fresh supply of trees to come. "Most, if not all, of the trees we now find in the wild state have been derived from seeds of orchard apples." (White, 1912). Following extensive studies on sequencing the genome, apples are believed to have been domesticated from Malus sieversii in the Tian Shan mountains of Central Asia somewhere between 4,000 and 10,000 years ago; travelling to Europe along the Silk Road, and hybridising and introgressing with other species along the way, including: M. baccata (from Siberia), M. orientalis (from the Caucasus) and M. sylvestris from Europe - from where it was introduced to Britain by the Romans. Today over 7500 cultivars are recognised worldwide.
Malus spectabilis (Aiton) Borkh. (Chinese Crab) General Sometimes grown in gardens. It was recorded at Conham in 2018 by ?.
Malus trilobata (Labill. ex Poir.) C.K. Schneid. (Lebanese Wild Apple) A native of the eastern Mediterranean and Caucasus. Occasionally grown for ornament. Several specimens were found in a recently planted 'mixed native hedge' around the tennis courts at Horfield Common, Bristol in 2025 by D. Peters. It looks superficially like Acer campestre (as it was probably mistaken for in this case) but the leaves are larger, more deeply lobed and serrate and the fruits look not too dissimilar to Sorbus torminalis.

List:

Cydonia oblonga Mill. (Quince) /- Woodland
Chaenomeles speciosa (Sweet) Nakai (often cultivated as 'Geisha Girl', 'Nivalis', 'Moerloosei') (Chinese Quince) / Woodland
Chaenomeles speciosa x C. japonica = C. x superba (Frahm) Rehder (Hybrid Quince)
Pyrus calleryana Decne. var. calleryana (Bradford Pear, Callery Pear, Chanticleer Ornamental Pear) [most cultivars probably 'Chanticleer']
Pyrus cordata Desv. (Plymouth Pear) - 1 NBN record from Bishopsworth, 1881 by William Hunt Painter (preserved specimen) and 1 pre-1930 BSBI record from Yate area
Pyrus pyraster (L.) Burgsd. (ssp. pyraster or ssp. achras (Wallr.) Terpó? - Stace) (Wild Pear) - Woodland
Pyrus communis L. (ssp. communis - Kew) (Pear) - Woodland
Pyrus salicifolia Pall. (var. salicifolia - Kew, GBIF) (Willow-leaved Pear)
Malus sylvestris (L.) Mill. (var. sylvestris - Kew, GBIF) (Crab Apple) /- Woodland
Malus domestica (Suckow) Borkh. (Stace) Malus pumila Mill. (NBN) (Apple) / Woodland
Malus spectabilis (Aiton) Borkh. (Chinese Crab)
Malus trilobata (Labill. ex Poir.) C.K. Schneid. (Lebanese Wild Apple)

Species to add:

Chaenomeles speciosa x C. japonica = C. x superba (Frahm) Rehder (Hybrid Quince) [recorded by myself]
Pyrus calleryana Decne. var. calleryana (Bradford Pear, Callery Pear, Chanticleer Ornamental Pear) [most cultivars probably 'Chanticleer']
Pyrus cordata Desv. (Plymouth Pear) - 1 NBN record from Bishopsworth, 1881 by William Hunt Painter (preserved specimen) and 1 pre-1930 BSBI record from Yate area
Pyrus salicifolia Pall. (Willow-leaved Pear)
Malus spectabilis (Aiton) Borkh. (Chinese Crab)
Malus trilobata (Labill. ex Poir.) C.K. Schneid. (Lebanese Wild Apple)

could occur:

Chaenomeles japonica (Thunb.) Spach (Japanese Quince)
Malus niedzwetskyana x M. atrosanguinea = M. x purpurea (E. Barbier) Rehder (Purple Crab)
Malus hupehensis (Pamp.) Rehder (Hupeh Crab)
Malus baccata (L.) Borkh. (var. baccata - Kew) (Siberian Crab)
Malus floribunda Siebold ex Van Houtte (Japanese Crab)