Japanese name: カリン（榠樝） Scientific name:Pseudocydonia sinensis
[Overview]
A deciduous tree about 8 m tall.
On old trunks the bark peels off in scales, forming irregular cloud-like patterns.
The twigs have no thorns.
Leaves are simple and alternate, obovate to long obovate, 4–7 cm long, with glandular serrations, and are at first covered with yellowish-white soft hairs on the underside.
Flowers are borne singly in the leaf axils at the tips of short shoots and open in April–May.
The flowers are pale pink, five-petaled, about 3 cm across, and the petals have a short claw at the base.
The fruit is elliptical to obovate-rounded, about 10 cm long, with a hairless surface, and turns yellow and fragrant.
[History]
It was introduced from China in ancient times.
[Uses]
The fruit is hard and strongly astringent, but it is used for sugar preserves and fruit liquor, and also as a cough remedy.
The wood is used for tokobashira (alcove posts), furniture and the like.
[Cultivation]
Propagate from seed, cuttings or layering.
It prefers a cool climate and suits sunny, well-drained, fertile soil.
Pests and diseases include black spot and scale insects.
