Crataegomespilus dardarii

• Bronvaux Medlar

Seed - this species is a bi-generic graft hybrid and is very unlikely to breed true from seed. Should you want to give it a try, then the seed is best sown as soon as it is ripe in the autumn in a cold frame. Some of the seed will germinate in the spring, though most will probably take another year. Stored seed can be very slow and erratic to germinate, it should be stratified for 3 months at 15°c and then for another 3 months at 4°c^[1]. It may still take another 18 months to germinate^[2]. Scarifying the seed before stratifying it might reduce this time^[3]. Fermenting the seed for a few days in its own pulp may also speed up the germination process[K]. Another possibility is to harvest the seed 'green' (as soon as the embryo has fully developed but before the seedcoat hardens) and sow it immediately in a cold frame. If timed well, it can germinate in the spring^[3]. If you are only growing small quantities of plants, it is best to pot up the seedlings as soon as they are large enough to handle and grow them on in individual pots for their first year, planting them out in late spring into nursery beds or their final positions. When growing larger quantities, it might be best to sow them directly outdoors in a seedbed, but with protection from mice and other seed-eating creatures. Grow them on in the seedbed until large enough to plant out, but undercut the roots if they are to be left undisturbed for more than two years. Grafting onto a rootstock of hawthorn, Crataegus species.

Prefers a well-drained, moisture-retentive soil enriched with organic matter, in sun or part shade^[4].

Plants are hardy to about -15°c^[4]. This tree is a bi-generic graft chimera resulting from a medlar, Mespilus germanica, being grafted on a hawthorn, Crataegus sp.^[5]. Three branches that grew from just beneath the graft were different from each other and also from either of the two species used in the graft. They showed characteristics intermediate between the hawthorn and the medlar^[5]. These three forms have been propagated and, in growth, each form tends to produce some branches of the other forms^[5].

    The first branch that was propagated has received specific status as C. dardarii. This is closer to the medlar than the hawthorn, but produces its flowers in clusters like the hawthorn - the fruits are medlar-like but a bit smaller. This tree also produces some branches that are pure medlar[5].
    The second branch has cultivar status as 'Jules d'Asnieres'. This is more hawthorn-like, and produces some hawthorn-like spines. It produces fruit that is more hawthorn in size[5].

The third branch, which does not seem to have been named, started off like a pure hawthorn, but towards its extremity changed into the cultivar 'Jules d'Asnieres'^[5].