THE APRICOT 281 



WHAT THE LOQUAT OFFERS 



There is another fruit to which reference may 

 be made here perhaps as well as elsewhere. This 

 is the loquat, a plant classified by the botanists as 

 Eriobotrya japonica. 



There are several species sometimes classed as 

 loquats, but the common Japanese loquat is the 

 only one which the botanist places in the genus 

 just named. It is a small, broad-leaved, woolly- 

 branched evergreen, useful not only for orna- 

 mental purposes, but for its fruit which ripens 

 from February to June, growing from blos- 

 soms that usually appear in December and 

 January. 



The wild loquat of Japan bears a small fruit 

 about the size of a very large cherry or small 

 plum, nearly all skin and seeds, and outwardly 

 somewhat resembling a small apple or large haw- 

 thorn fruit, except that it is yellowish in color 

 and rusty woolly. 



But there are several improved varieties of 

 this fruit, due to selective cultivation. These 

 oftenest bear pear-shaped fruit that is some- 

 times two and one-half inches in length and 

 two inches in diameter. The increased size 

 is due to the pulp, the seeds not being changed 

 in size. 



