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• Chaenomeles speciosa

Chaenomeles speciosa — common flowering-quince

Facts

Common flowering-quince is a thorny shrub native to Asia and introduced in New England. It produces showy red flowers in the summer, but its real treat are its edible fruits, which can be made into jams and jellies with medicinal value as anti-imflammatories and astringents.

Habitat

Anthropogenic (man-made or disturbed habitats), forest edges, forests

Characteristics

• Buds or leaf scars

  Bud scale number

  there are two scales on the winter bud, and their edges meet

  Bud scar shape (Fraxinus)

  NA

  Collateral buds

  there are no collateral buds on the sides of the branches

  Superposed buds

  there are no superposed buds on the branch

• Flowers

  Carpels fused

  the carpels are fused to one another

  Enlarged sterile flowers

  there are no enlarged sterile flowers on the plant

  Flower petal color

  • pink
  • red
  • white

  Flower symmetry

  there are two or more ways to evenly divide the flower (the flower is radially symmetrical)

  Hairs on ovary (Amelanchier)

  NA

  Hypanthium present

  the flower has a hypanthium

  Inflorescence type

  • the inflorescence has only one flower on it
  • the inflorescence is a fascicle (compact cluster of flowers)

  Number of pistils

  1

  Ovary position

  • the ovary is above the point of petal and/or sepal attachment
  • the ovary is below the point of petal and/or sepal attachment

  Petal and sepal arrangement

  the flower includes two cycles of petal- or sepal-like structures

  Petal appearance

  the petals are thin and delicate, and pigmented (colored other than green or brown)

  Petal fusion

  the perianth parts are separate

  Sepal cilia (Ilex)

  NA

  Stamen number

  13 or more

• Fruits or seeds

  Berry color

  • green
  • yellow

  Fruit type (general)

  the fruit is fleshy

  Fruit type (specific)

  the fruit is a berry (fleshy, with the wall enclosing one or more sections, with two or more seeds)

  Nut with spines (Fagaceae)

  NA

• Glands or sap

  Sap color

  the sap is clear and watery

  Stalked glands on fruit (Rosa)

  NA

• Growth form

  Growth form

  the plant is a shrub (i.e., a woody plant with several stems growing from the base)

• Leaves

  Hairs on upper side of leaf blade

  the upper side of the leaf is not hairy, or has very few hairs

  Leaf blade base shape

  • the base of the leaf blade is cuneate (wedge-shaped, tapers to the base with relatively straight, converging edges), or narrow
  • the base of the leaf blade is rounded

  Leaf blade edges

  the edge of the leaf blade has teeth

  Leaf blade edges (Acer)

  NA

  Leaf blade hairs

  NA

  Leaf blade length

  30–80 mm

  Leaf blade shape

  • the leaf blade is elliptic (widest near the middle and tapering at both ends)
  • the leaf blade is oblong (rectangular but with rounded ends)
  • the leaf blade is obovate (egg-shaped, but with the widest point above the middle of the leaf blade)
  • the leaf blade is ovate (widest below the middle and broadly tapering at both ends)

  Leaf blade translucent dots

  there are no translucent dots on the leaf blade

  Leaf duration

  • the leaves drop off in winter (or they wither but persist on the plant)
  • the leaves remain green all winter

  Leaf lobe tips (Quercus)

  NA

  Leaf stalk

  the leaves have leaf stalks

  Leaf stalk nectaries

  there are no nectaries on the leaf stalk

  Leaf teeth

  the leaf blade margin is serrate (with forward-pointing) or dentate (with outward-pointing) with medium-sized to coarse teeth

  Leaf teeth hairs (Carya)

  NA

  Leaf type

  the leaf blade is simple (i.e., lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets)

  Leaves per node

  there is one leaf per node along the stem

  Specific leaf type

  the leaves are simple (i.e., lobed or unlobed but not separated into leaflets

• Place

  Habitat

  terrestrial

  New England state

  • Connecticut
  • Massachusetts

  Specific habitat

  • edges of forests
  • forests
  • man-made or disturbed habitats

• Stem, shoot, branch

  Aerial roots

  the plant has no aerial roots

  Bark texture

  the bark of an adult plant is thin and smooth

  Branch brittleness (willows only)

  NA

  Branch cross-section

  the branch is circular in cross-section, or it has five or more sides, so that there are no sharp angles

  First-year cane (Rubus)

  NA

  Twig papillae (Vaccinium species only)

  NA

  Twig winter color

  • black
  • brown
  • gray
  • purple

  Wings on branch

  the branch does not have wings on it

  armature on plant

  the plant has spines, prickles, or thorns

Wetland status

Not classified

New England distribution and conservation status

From the dichotomous key of Flora Novae Angliae