Cydonia sinensis
ζ*C. sinensis Thouin ζ*, Chinese quince, has been collected wild at Papakura, south of Auckland (e.g., CHR 280944, Yeoman, 18.4.1977), having escaped from cultivation. A large, unarmed shrub or small tree c. 4-6 m high; lvs broadly elliptic-ovate, villous beneath at first, with finely serrulate gland-tipped marginal teeth; stipules small and glandular-ciliate; fls solitary; sepals reflexed and deciduous before fruiting; petals pale pink, c. 15 mm long; fr. very large, 100-125 mm diam., ± oblong, glabrous, yellow, very hard and woody. Chinese quince is uncommon in cultivation in N.Z. and is often confused with C. oblonga or Chaenomeles spp.; indeed it has been known here and elsewhere as Chaenomeles sinensis (Thouin) Koehne. It is somewhat intermediate between the 2 genera and has been separated as Pseudocydonia sinensis (Thouin) C. Schneider because of this, but as pointed out by Weber, C., J. Arnold Arbor. 45: 161-205 (1964), it has much more in common with Cydonia than Chaenomeles. (China, 1988).
