The loquat Eriobotrya japonica is a large evergreen shrub or tree, grown commercially for its orange fruit and for its leaves, which are used to make herbal tea.
The loquat is in the family Rosaceae, and is native to the cooler hill regions of south-central China. In Japan the loquat is known as biwa.The loquat has been introduced to regions with subtropical to mild temperate climates throughout the world.
It is also known as Japanese and Chinese plum,as well as pipa in China, nà Âspero in Spain.
Loquat is a large evergreen shrub or small tree, with a rounded crown, short trunk and woolly.
The leaves are alternate, simple, long, dark green, tough and leathery in texture, with a serrated margin, and densely velvety-hairy below with thick yellow-brown pubescence.
Loquats are unusual among fruit trees in that the flowers appear in the autumn or early winter, and the fruits are ripe at any time from early spring to early summer.
The flowers are white, with five petals, and produced in stiff panicles of three to ten flowers. The flowers have a sweet, heady aroma that can be smelled from a distance.
Loquat fruits, growing in clusters, are oval, rounded or pear-shaped, with a smooth or downy, yellow or orange, sometimes red-blushed skin. The succulent, tangy flesh is white, yellow or orange and sweet to subacid or acid, depending on the cultivar.
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