Eriobotrya Species, Japanese Plum, Loquat (Eriobotrya japonica)

by purplesun Mar 21, 2009 3:58 PM

The fruit

The flowers

New spring growth

Great loquat tree, tastey fruit.

Tree is a 5-year old, 12 ft tall seedling tree in Rockledge, Florida (32955). Profusely fruits every year without any care or water. Very sweet, good size fruits. Close-up of a ripe fruit.

Loquat flower

Grown from seed back in 1987. It overwinters in an unheated breezeway, I don't quite dare plant it out here in NJ (7b). Flowered last winter for the first time and produced several fruit in the spring.

Starting to finish blooming in the middle of October. (San Antonio, Tx.)

This was a 4m tall tree, blooming in early winter. It�s been 4 or 5 months now, so I should go check if it has an fruits - and eat them -.^ Rio de Janeiro.

Eriobotrya japonica 'Champagne' (Japanese), often misidentified as 'Early Red'. Selected and introduced into cultivation in California by C. P. Taft around 1908. Elongated pear-shaped, often oblique; small to large (depending on where it is grown); skin pale-golden to deep-yellow, thick, tough, astringent; flesh white or yellow, soft, juicy, mild and subacid to sweet; of excellent flavor. There are 3 to 5 seeds. Midseason to late. Prolific; fruits borne in large clusters. Perishable; good for preserving. Tree has long, narrow, pointed leaves; is self -infertile.

Nispero in Andalusia, southern Spain (my photo taken today). Today, I started to harvest the delicious fruits in our garden. There are a lot of nisperos in our area. Glad to give answers. [email protected]

Bloom, January, 2005, Venice, Florida

March 14, 2005 fruited Brownsville, Texas. Birds get the fruit before any hit the ground.

a loquat that was trained into a high headed tree

Krapets, Bulgaria. Zone 7b.

April 8, 2010 growing in my neighbor's yard.

Fresh new growth.

South of France, Zone 9a

A volunteer tree -- good fruit, gets somewhat sun-burned.

Lemon-yellow fruit -- need to wait for a more orange color (even brown) for sweetness, otherwise can be as tart as a lemon!

Budding out, November 4, 2010

Buds & Blooms, November 4, 2010

unripened fruit central sc

ripe fruit central SC

Seven Yrs old, 12-14 ft tall and producing fruit this yr 2011, growing in Palatka Florida

New fruit starting in Feb. 2011 zone 9B FL

Ripening fruit

Photo taken at Riverbanks Zoo, now I am inspired to plant one of my own :0)

Photo taken at the Virginia Zoo in Norfolk (10 Apr. 2011)

Flowering and fruiting 2013, the plants appear to be cold hardy, frost and drought tolerant in our zone.

Fruits in clusters. An attractive tree with edible fruits!

Flower - My Garden - Vancouver, BC

Have mature fruits for the first time in 6 years.

Longan tree with fruit November 2013

Longan tree Sacramento Nov 2013

This tree was propagated by way of digging a sucker from a larger tree 7 years before. Flowered for the first time this past year- zone 8b NW FL in sandy soil.

July, 2015--Belle Isle Conservatory, Detroit, MI

Krapets, Bulgaria, zone 8a. It always has a tattered look after winter.

Krapets, Bulgaria, zone 8a, later in summer

United States National Arboretum. Photo courtesy of Karl Gercens. Copyright Karl Gercens. Conservatory Horticulturist at Longwood Gardens. http://www.karlgercens.com/