Thanks for the link. In the list, all three instances of possible Nottingham - by any other name - are found to have a virus. Depending on the virus(es) present, that may shift the flavor profile.
Years ago I remember reading about someone clearing all the viruses from the apple famous in England for complex taste: Cox Orange Pippin. The results were so bland & simple the virus free clone was destroyed.
I already have ordered a scion of Marron & just got an offer for Nottingham scions from a source thousands of miles away. Now I must get that second batch, tag carefully & compare.
Orangepippin.com listing of Cox Orange Pippin, reviews: go down to March 2008 and a note by Axel (Kratel?) in which he says he had encountered the virus deletion & subsequent loss of flavor in COP. He also noted COP needs shade in Santa Cruz county for best results.
Axel also stated the virus free version was available in 2008 from Dave Wilson, so my memory represented my reaction (“toss it!”) rather than the fact. Not the first time…
Oddly, this is exciting news, for if a virus contributes to the nuances found in anecdotes of medlar flavors: smoky, leather, citrus, cinnamon, other spice, apple, tannic, subtle acid, et. al. then this will keep me in high anticipation for years to come.
I’ve got one from Burnt Ridge… Its fruited for the past couple years for me, but for some reason this year’s crop wasn’t as good. Once they bletted they were insipid
Also, these are hard to find if they fall into fallen leaves and can be dangerous if you run them over with a lawnmower…lol
Ive had them get dry and mealy some years. Im not sure why. It seems to happen more indoors so I suspect it may be related to humidity. At times Ive noticed black streaking in the flesh as though mold were growing. Well bletted medlars are moist and goopy so its not like you’ll mistake them
I did notice the virus mention and assume that the tree I have eaten from is virused since it is such an old clone that hasn’t been subject to any clean up efforts. Whatever this virus may be, doesn’t seem to have any observable negative consequences for the medlar (possibly even positive consequences as you have noted). That said, I’d be cautious grafting it to multi-graft trees including other species as the virus could have unpredictable effects (or none at all) on other species.
I hope to graft to Douglas hawthorn seedlings at a farm north of & higher (cooler & less arid!) than home. At first I wish to graft scions singly to seedlings. After they come into bearing, I might find Nottingham-macrocarpa-Marron to be indistinguishable, or Nottingham/Macrocarpa to taste alike & Marron may be a virus scrubbed cv.
After comparing medlar fruit several years, it is possible I will find it needful to do a bit of pruning of Nottingham before pruning all the others - without disinfecting the pruning hook - & see if the virus improves the flavor of them all.
Has anybody read Jane Steward’s recent book on Medlars? Looks like it may be fairly informative, or at least worth picking up to support somebody going all-in on this oddball fruit.
‘Marron’ is not virus scrubbed. The USDA repository has the same clone as One Green World which is the nursery who came up with the name ‘Marron’ for marketing. Accession #PI 665823
All three; ‘Marron,’ ‘Macrocarpa’ and ‘Nottingham’ were tested positive for the virus.
Finding your post on this thread with the link, I looked again. Ah ha! Looks to be Nottingham, since these appear to be DNA tests & tests for viruses.
Clearly you have thought about & worked with medlars for years, while I am dabbling in the planning stage. Thanks.
I picked up a copy. Looks like a cool little book. I’ve only thumbed through it to date. I did notice in her description of varieties she gave highest accolades to one she called ‘Iranian’, which she also seemed to indicate did not need to be bletted. Ill have to go back and reread but my impression was that this variety had been either bred or introduced by an Englishman. Anyone have the skinny? It apparently has an unusial elongated shape and is somewhat small fruited.Sounds like maybe one to hunt down. Ill have to revisit the GRIN listing for Mespilus. I seem to recall them having some ones from Georgia or Azerbaijan, though I may be mixing up with Cydonia. I don’t recall any from Iran
I suspect that what she meant is that it didn’t need to be intentionally bletted as it blets well on the tree. I believe I saw a video on the ‘Iranian’ variety a while back and that was said about it.
Hi folks , i’m new to this forum and pardon me for my bad english
robert asked a question below my post and i want to answer his question below relevant topic
medlar(ezgil in persian) is grown in northern and southern parts of iran which have tropical and sub-tropical climate .
there are two types of medlars here , one which ripes in spring called indian or japanese medlar and mostly used for fresh consumption(in persian called “ezgil”) and the other ones which is wild type ripes in autumn(in persian called “amboo or konoos”) and used for fresh consumption , jam , pickles and wines .the first one is bigger and yellow in color , latter is small and brown.
Konoos=کنوس
Ezgil=ازگیل
Amboo=آمبو
