416 ARBORETUM ET FRUTICETUM BRITANNICUM. 
* M. g. 1 sylvéstris Mill. Dict. No. 1.— Spiny. Fruit small. It loses 
its spines in a state of cultivation. 
* M. g. 2 stricta Dec., Ait. Hort. Kew. ii. p. 172., Dod. Pempt. 801.— 
Spineless. Leaves doubly serrated. 
t M. g. 3 diffisa Dec., Ait. Hort. Kew. ii. p.172., Du Ham. Arb. Fr. i. 
t. 3.— Thornless. Leaves nearly entire. Fruit, in many instances, 
abortive of seeds. 
In the Horticultural Society’s Fruit Catalogue, the following four culti- 
vated sorts are given, which may be considered as artificial varieties : — 
1, Blake’s large-fruited Medlar. 
2. Dutch Medlar.— Fruit the largest of any. 
3. Nottingham, or common, Medlar. — Fruit obovate, middle size, and of 
the best quality: the only sort worth cultivating for its fruit in 
England. 
4. The stoneless Medlar. — Fruit small, and of little merit. 
The fruit of the medlar is not eaten till in a state of incipient decay, when 
it is very agreeable to some palates; though it is, as Du Hamel observes, 
more un fruit de fantaisie, than one of utility. A number of trees of the dif- 
ferent varieties may be seen in the orchard of the Horticultural Society’s 
Garden, where they have taken very picturesque shapes. 
¥ 2. M. Smi’tuz Dec. Smith’s Medlar. 
Identification. Tec. Prod., 2. p. 633.; Don’s Mill., 2. p. 605. 
Synonymes. M. grandiflora Smith Exot. Bot. 1. p. 33.3; M.lobita Poir, Hook. in Bot. Mag. t. 3342. 
Engravings, Smith Exot. Bot., 1. t. 18; Bot. Mag. t. 3442. ; the plate of this species in Arb. Brit., 
Ist edit., vol. vi.; and our jig. 760. 
760. Méspilus Smithis. 
Spec. Char., &c. Leaves oblong, elliptic, serrated, pubescent on the nerves 
beneath. Flowers usually solitary. (Don’s Mill.) A deciduous tree with 
rambling irregular branches. Native country unknown. Cultivated in 
1800. Height 15 ft. to 20ft. Flowers white; May and June. Fruit 
reddish brown ; ripe in October. 
As hardy as the common medlar, and well deserving a place in ornamental 
plantations for the beauty of its flowers, which are produced in great pro- 
tusion. The general aspect and habit of the tree are those of a Cratz‘gus 
and, indeed, it is by many persons considered as more properly belonging , 9 
that genus than to Méspilus. 
