Mespilus canescens

Mespilus canescens
Conservation status
Critically Imperiled (NatureServe)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Angiosperms
(unranked):	Eudicots
(unranked):	Rosids
Order:	Rosales
Family:	Rosaceae
Genus:	Mespilus
Species:	M. canescens
Binomial name
Mespilus canescens J.B.Phipps

Mespilus canescens, commonly known as Stern's medlar, is a large shrub or small tree, recently discovered in Prairie County, Arkansas, United States, in 1990. It is a critically endangered endemic species, with only 25 plants known, all in one small (9 ha) wood, now protected as the Konecny Grove Natural Area.

It has been shown by genetic analysis to be closely related to the Common Medlar M. germanica, which was hitherto the only known species in the genus. The leaves are very similar to that species, dark green and elliptic, 7–12 cm long and 3–4 cm wide. The five-petalled white flowers are produced in late spring. The fruit is a pome, 2–3 cm diameter, with wide-spreading persistent sepals giving a 'hollow' appearance to the fruit; it differs from Common Medlar fruit in being bright glossy red when ripe (not matte brown).

See also

Flora of Arkansas

External links and references

• Center for Plant Conservation: Mespilus canescens
• Phipps, J.B. 1990. Mespilus canescens, a new rosaceous endemic from Arkansas. Systematic Botany 15: 26-32.
• Phipps, J.B., Weeden, N.F., & Dickson, E.E. 1991. Isozyme evidence for the naturalness of Mespilus L. (Rosaceae, subfam. Maldoideae). Systematic Botany 16: 546-552.