60. Chaenomeles Lindley, Trans. Linn. Soc. London. 13: 97. 1821.
[(as Choenomeles), name and orthography conserved]
Flowering quince [Greek chaino, open, and melon, apple, alluding to mistakenly presumed splitting of fruit]
Paul M. Catling, Gisèle Mitrow
Shrubs [or trees], (0.2–)10–20 dm. Stems few to many, erect or spreading; bark purplish brown, blackish brown, purplish black, or purple, with scattered pale brown lenticels; long and short shoots present; thorns present; glabrous or hairy young, ˂smooth older˃; ˂buds triangular-ovoid, apex obtuse or acute, scale margins glabrous or hairy˃. Leaves deciduous or semipersistent, cauline, simple; stipules persistent, free, reniform or suborbiculate, rarely ovate, ˂leaflike˃, margins serrate or crenate-serrate; petiole present; blade spatulate, obovate, elliptic, or ovate, 3–9 cm, firm or leathery, margins flat, serrate or crenate-serrate, venation pinnate, surfaces glabrous, sometimes midvein abaxially. Inflorescences terminal ˂on short branches, appearing lateral on branch as a whole˃, [2 or]3–5[–10]-flowered, fascicles, glabrous or hairy; bracts present or absent; bracteoles present or absent. Pedicels present, short, or absent. Flowers opening before or with leaves, perianth and androecium epigynous, 25–50 mm diam.; hypanthium campanulate, ± constricted at mouth, 4–7 mm diam., exterior glabrous; sepals 5, reflexed or ascending, suborbiculate or ovate, ˂abaxial surface glabrous, adaxial hairy˃; petals 5, white, pink, or red, obovate or ovate to suborbiculate, ˂base short-clawed, apex rounded˃; stamens 40–60, equal to or 1/2 length petals; carpels 5, connate, adnate to hypanthium, indumentum not recorded, styles ˂2–5˃, terminal, basally connate 1/3 of length, ˂nearly equal to stamens˃; ovules 2. Fruits pomes, ˂sessile˃, yellow or yellowish green, globose, subglobose, or ovoid, 23–60 mm diam., ˂5-locular˃, glabrous; ˂fleshy˃; hypanthium persistent; sepals deciduous; carpels cartilaginous; styles deciduous. Seeds 10 per locule. x = 17.
Species 4 (2 in the flora): introduced; Europe, Asia (China, Japan).
The flowering quinces are widely cultivated as ornamental shrubs for their attractive and abundant pink, red, or white flowers. Other species differ from those in the flora area in their entire leaf margins and tomentose leaves.
