Quince

Quince, shrub or small tree of the Asian genera Chaenomeles and Cydonia of the family Rosaceae (rose family). The common quince (Cydonia oblonga) is a spineless tree with edible fruits cultivated from ancient times in Asia and in the Mediterranean area, where it was early naturalized. Its pome fruit is similar to that of the related apple and pear but is very astringent, and hence it is used chiefly cooked in preserves; marmalade is said to have first been made from quince. As a commercial fruit tree, the quince is cultivated more widely in the temperate zone of Europe than in the United States, where it is grown chiefly in California and New York. It is often used as a rootstock for dwarf fruit trees, especially the pear. The flowering quinces (genus Chaenomeles) are cultivated as ornamental shrubs for their profuse, usually thorny branches and attractive scarlet, pink, or white flowers. The fruit is too small and hard to be of commercial value but is sometimes used locally. Best known of this genus is C. lagenaria, the Japanese quince, or japonica. Some other Asian shrubs (e.g., a camellia) are also called japonica. Quince is classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Rosales, family Rosaceae.

Loquat

Loquat (lō`kwŏt), small ornamental evergreen tree (Eriobotrya japonica) and its fruit. It belongs to the family Rosaceae (rose family) and is probably indigenous to China. It has been grown from antiquity in Japan and N India and is cultivated also in Indochina, the Mediterranean region, and to some extent in the New World subtropics. The yellowish, oval fruits are borne in clusters and taste somewhat like apples or pears but are slightly tart. They are commonly eaten fresh but are used also for making jam, jelly, pie, and sauces. Sometimes the loquat is called Japanese medlar, probably because it somewhat resembles the medlar of Europe and Asia. The loquat is one of the few important fruit trees of the tropics belonging to the rose family. Loquat is classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Rosales, family Rosaceae.

Apricot

Apricot [Arabic from Lat.,=early ripe], tree, Prunus armeniaca, and its fruit, of the plum genus of the family Rosaceae (rose family), native to temperate Asia and long cultivated in Armenia. The fruit is used raw, canned, preserved, and dried. California is the chief place of cultivation in the United States, although by selecting suitable varieties the apricot can be grown in most regions where the peach is hardy. Apricots are used in the making of a cordial and also for apricot brandy. A number of apricot-plum hybrids, such as the plumcot, Pluot, and Aprium, have been developed. Apricots are classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Rosales, family Rosaceae.

Cherry

Cherry, name for several species of trees or shrubs of the genus Prunus (a few are sometimes classed as Padus) of the family Rosaceae (rose family) and for their fruits. The small, round red to black fruits are botanically designated drupes, or stone fruits, as are those of the closely related peach, apricot, and plum. The cherry is one of the most commonly grown home-orchard fruits. About 600 varieties are cultivated, practically all derived from two species—P. avium (sweet cherries) and P. cerasus (sour cherries). Both are believed to be native to Asia Minor and have long been cultivated; they were mentioned in the writings of the ancients. Sour cherries are hardier and more easily grown than sweet cherries and are mostly self-fertile, while many sweet cherries must be cross-pollinated to bear well. The fruit is popular raw, in preserves, and in pies; cherry cider and liqueurs are also made. Europe is the largest producing area. Several species of the flowering cherry, many native to East Asia, are cultivated as weeping or erect trees for their beautiful, usually double flowers. The Japanese make a national festival of cherry-blossom time; the city of Tokyo presented a number of trees to Washington, D.C., where they have become a popular spring attraction. 

The species of American wild cherry include the chokecherry, pin cherry, and wild, black cherry. These have smaller fruits than the cultivated cherries and are seldom used except for jelly. Wood of the wild, black cherry, or rum cherry (P. serotina), usually reddish in color, is fine grained and of high quality. It takes a high polish and is prized for cabinetwork. The aromatic bark and leaves contain hydrocyanic acid, characteristic of many cherries. 

The cherry laurel (P. laurocerasus or Laurocerasus officinalis) is an Old World evergreen species cultivated elsewhere in many varieties as an ornamental. The leaves are sometimes used as a flavoring and in making cherry laurel water. The American cherry laurel (P. or L. caroliniana), called mock orange in the South, is similar but larger. 

Cherries are classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Rosales, family Rosaceae.

Pear

Pear, name for a fruit tree of the genus Pyrus of the family Rosaceae (rose family) and for its fruit, a pome. The common pear (P. communis) is one of the earliest cultivated of fruit trees, both in its native W Asia and in Europe. Most of the pear strains grown for their sweet and juicy fruit are varieties of P. communis or of its hybrids with other species of Pyrus—usually P. pyrifolia, known as the Japanese, Chinese, or sand pear and indigenous to China. The main use of the sand pear today is as a rootstock in pear orchards; the related quince is used for the same purpose. Pear strains with fruit of really good eating quality were not developed until the 18th and 19th cent. in N Europe, whence almost all the present successful varieties (e.g., the Bartlett and Seckel) grown in the United States (chiefly on the Pacific coast and in the Great Lakes area) were directly imported. European production is far greater—especially in Germany, France, and Switzerland, where much of the crop is used for making pear cider (perry). Pears are also cultivated on a large scale in Japan, Turkey, Argentina, and Australia. They are usually sold fresh or canned; some are dried. Several varieties of the common pear and of other species—e.g., the small, white-foliaged snow pear (P. nivalis)—are cultivated as ornamentals, and pear wood, hard and dense, is used to a limited extent in cabinetmaking. The pear tree and its fruit are similar to the closely related apple (considered by some botanists to be of the same genus) in characteristics and in method of cultivation, but the tree is somewhat less hardy and the fruit more perishable. Pear or fire blight is the tree's most serious disease; it is also attacked by several insect pests. Pears are classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Rosales, family Rosaceae.

Figwort

Figwort, common name for some members of the Scrophulariaceae, a family comprising chiefly herbs and small shrubs and distributed widely over all continents. The family includes a few climbing types and some parasitic and saprophytic forms.

Common Species and Their Uses

Among its many wildflowers are several European species that have been introduced to America and become thoroughly naturalized, e.g., the mulleins (genus Verbascum), the common speedwell (Veronica officinalis), and the butter-and-eggs (Linaria vulgaris). The common mullein (V. thapsus), also called flannel plant and torches, was formerly a favorite multipurpose medicinal plant; it is still occasionally used for domestic remedies, e.g., as a tea for coughs. Its large stalks are said to have been oiled and used for funeral torches in early times. The speedwells, of which several species are native to the United States, are also called veronica, supposedly because of a resemblance of the flower to the relic (see veronica). Culver's root (V. virginica) has been used as a cathartic.

Butter-and-eggs, or yellow toadflax, has small snapdragonlike flowers of yellow and orange and is consequently known also as wild snapdragon. Among the other toadflaxes (genus Linaria) is the well-known American species, blue toadflax. Other indigenous wildflowers of the family include species of beardtongue, or pentstemon (genus Pentstemon); gerardia, or false purple foxglove (Gerardia) [for John Gerard]; painted cup, or Indian paintbrush (Castilleja); and figwort (Scrophularia). The beardtongues, herbs or shrubs, are named for the flower's single sterile stamen that is bearded at its flattened extremity. The roots of the painted cups, chiefly a Western genus, are partially parasitic on the roots of other green plants. Their true flowers are inconspicuous but are commonly enveloped by bright red flowerlike bracts. C. linariaefolia is the state flower of Wyoming. The name Scrophularia derives from the early belief that because the figworts are characterized by deep-throated flowers, they should be medicinally valuable in treating throat ailments (e.g., scrofula).

Many plants of the family are used medicinally; however, only the purple foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) of W Europe is economically important. Its leaves are the source of the drug digitalis, a powerful heart stimulant. The foxglove's tall spire of flowers, typical of many members of the family, makes it popular also as an ornamental. Each blossom, likened to the finger of a glove or to an elongated bell, points downward from the stalk. In England, where it grows wild, the plant has long been associated with fairies—as evidenced by many of its common names, e.g., fairy thimbles.

Numerous other plants of the family also have curious names derived from their unusual flower shapes—e.g., the turtle heads (Chelone) and monkey flowers (Mimulus) of North America and the little red elephants (Pedicularis groenlandica) of arctic and alpine regions. A favorite cultivated plant is the snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus), native to the Mediterranean area. Its showy blossoms, likened to a dragon's snout, display a wide range of colors in the many varieties. Other ornamentals of the family include the Kenilworth ivy (Cymbalaria muralis), introduced into North America, and the calceolaria, or slipperwort (genus Calceolaria), herbs and shrubby plants of South America valued for their profusion of pouch-shaped, often spotted blossoms.

Classification

Figworts are classified in the division Magnoliophyta, class Magnoliopsida, order Scrophulariales.

Rhizome

Rhizome (rī`zōm) or rootstock, fleshy, creeping underground stem by means of which certain plants propagate themselves. Buds that form at the joints produce new shoots. Thus if a rhizome is cut by a cultivating tool it does not die, as would a root, but becomes several plants instead of one, which explains why such weeds as Canada thistle and crabgrass are so hard to eradicate. Ginger, the common iris, trillium, and Solomon's-seal all have rhizomes. True arrowroot is starch from the rhizome of a West Indian plant. See perennial.

Tuber, enlarged tip of a rhizome (underground stem) that stores food. Although much modified in structure, the tuber contains all the usual stem parts—bark, wood, pith, nodes, and internodes. The eyes of a potato tuber are nodes where sprouts appear, and they are arranged in the same spiral pattern characteristic of buds on an aerial stem.