[John]

Loquat, Nespoli or even Japanese Plum. Eriobotrya japonica is one of my favourite fruits. Perhaps made more so by it's limited seasonal availability. It is refreshing a with a slight edge. Every year it is available in a few shops not far from us especially the Arab run shops in Shepherds Bush. I have never tried it in preserves but apparently it is used in this way too. In London it is quite a common sight making a small tree but despite it's far eastern origins and hardiness never fruits. Some years it flowers well which is in the autumn and obviously, despite it's hardiness, requires a mild winter for the fruits to develop.
The large seeds are a very easy way to propagate it but I don't know whether there are named cultivars. I would assume there are.
These fruits were taken in London bought from a shop in Shepherds Bush!

[Alisdair]

Yes there are quite a lot of cultivars, which vary to some extent in their frost-hardiness.
Only some of these cultivars are self-fertile.
Note that in hot mediterranean conditions fruits are likely to abort unless the tree gets at least occasional water in dry periods.

[Janet Ibbotson]

Aha, thank you Alisdair!  You say only some cultivars are self-fertile.  As mine is unnamed, does that mean I would be safer with two.  Its been in the ground about nine months and shows no signs of flowering, never mind fruiting.  How can I tell which sex my existing tree is and how am I ever going to get a named cultivar of the right sex here on Skopelos. 

On the other hand perhaps I should just be patient and give it a little more time to get established.

[John]

I would have assumed the flowers are all bisexual as are many fruit trees in the Rosaceae but also many need another pollinator e.g. apples.

[John J]

Loquats are very popular here in Cyprus, only a couple of generations ago no self-respecting Cypriot household would be without at least one tree. Over the years I have grown several from seed. At one point I had 6/7 trees all producing. The main problem I found with this method was that the flavour was variable, in fact the fruit of some trees was horribly acid. These were removed and I ended up with 2 trees, one for me that was on the sweet side and one for my wife who prefers them to be slightly more tart. They begin to flower towards the end of the year, December, and the scent is beautiful. The fruit ripen around March. Apparently they do make an excellent jam but I've never been tempted to try, I prefer to eat them straight off the tree and spit out the stones!!

[Alisdair]

I'm afraid John (Fielding) is right; each flower does indeed have both male and female parts on all loquat cultivars, so you can't tell just by looking at the tree whether it's self-fertile or not. It's just that some do need fertilising by pollen from a different cultivar.

[Hilary]

There are several of these trees in gardens/ yards in Corinth.
They don't appear to get any care at all.
My neighbour had one in her garden which had arrived mysteriously, by a bird?
She always gave me some but they were so small and the seeds so large  I never did anything with them.
The photo is from December 2010 of a tree in a small garden.
I had intended to look out for the fruit in the spring but forgot

[JTh]

Hm, I just planted one here in Halkidiki last week, I did not know I needed another one to get fruit. There was of course no name on the one I bought, I  was told it was hardy here from the owner of the nursery, but I have no idea if it is self fertile or not, I guess I have to wait and see as well.

[John J]

October 7th and my loquat trees are already beginning to flower!

[David Bracey]

And do not forget the scent. 

The following will be bposted in the MGS Science Newsletter 2011.

ISHS Acta Horticulturae 887:  III International Symposium on Loquat
Research underway in China indicates the development of a seedless loquat (Eriobotrya japonica) will be the next great advance in loquat commercialization.

Southwest China, Sichuan province, is one of the origin sites for loquat in the world with a cultivation history of more than 2,000 years. To-day over 50,000 ha are in cultivation.

The Mediterranean Region of Turkey has the most suitable ecological conditions for growing loquat and is particularly suitable for early production. In recent years, loquat production is carried out under covers in Antalya province  since early fruit command a high price.

[Marilyn]

Hello everyone,

Am I right in thinking they strike quite easily if propagated by cuttings? There is a tree by a roadside that I pass sometimes, which is always completely laden with very large succulent-looking fruit... I have never stopped to pick one of them but would hazard a guess that they are of good quality, and would quite like to beg a cutting from its owner!

[Fleur Pavlidis]

Why not give it a try? I have two trees which I grew from stones from a selected tree that bear delicious fruit but one is normal-sized and the other is like a dwarf tree, even though they are side by side. Now that you had given me the idea I'm going to take cuttings from both and see how they do.
We'll have to compare notes in a couple of years!

[ezeiza]

The fruit has a unique flavour. Sadly, in our climate acts as the host for Mediterranean fruit fly and it is a problem to decide which ones to spray.

[david glen]

Here in Tarragona every small farm has a loquat or two around the house, together with at least a  fig and a carob . The loquats are the first to flower in the year, or perhaps the last in the year. My tree is just about to flower as usual before the year is out.  The scent is discreet.