One of my favorite trees here at the University of South Carolina grows right behind the herbarium. It’s been there for years. The building was built around 1974.
The current height is approximately 25 feet. I’m not good at estimating tree heights, but let’s just say it’s tall enough to cause serious damage if you fall out of the tree while climbing. But why would you want to climb this tree?

John Nelson
It’s easy. This is an honest and good fruit tree, and it bears a lot of fruit. Fruit is amazingly delicious, but funny enough, not many people around here seem to know what’s missing in ripe fruit. Here’s how it works:
The tree itself is native to East Asia and is an excellent and sturdy member of the Rosaceae family. The leaves are alternate and relatively large. The blade is thick and leathery, dark green and shiny above, and entirely reddish-brown and fuzzy below. The margins are prominent and sharply serrated, with strong lateral veins branching from the midvein.
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Flowers are formed in clusters that terminate branches, so this is called a terminal panicle. The panicle branches are thick and covered with reddish-brown downy hairs, the same as the undersides of the leaves. Each flower has five fuzzy sepals and five completely white, non-fuzzy petals. The petals themselves closely resemble apple tree flowers. After all, apple trees are also members of the rose family. Each flower has about 20 stamens.
Now, the ovary of the flower has a structure very similar to that of an apple, and the ovule is covered with a thick hypanthium, which is the delicious part of the ripe apple that we eat. And just like an apple, the mystery plant’s ovary sits below the rest of the flower, making it an “inferior” ovary.
What’s interesting about this plant is that it’s in bloom right now, and the scent is overwhelming. It has a faintly sweet scent. This tree is one of the trees that blooms very late in the year. The blooming branches fill the room with fragrance, making them perfect for incorporating into winter arrangements. However, be careful of fluff.

John Nelson
But perhaps most interesting are the fruits that grow slowly through the rest of winter and into spring. Fruits begin to ripen in early summer. When fully ripe, each fruit has a smooth skin, a bright yellow color, and a rich aroma. Fruits are quite edible, but like I said, most people don’t seem to know this fact.
To me, this fruit has a kind of sour-sweet taste, and tastes like a combination of apple and pineapple. If you’re lucky enough to have a plant with ripe fruit, you won’t need clippers to remove it, and you probably won’t even need to climb up there.
The fruit can be eaten raw right off the tree. No need to peel. You can do a lot of things in the kitchen too. It’s full of fiber, vitamins, and other goodies.
Answer: “Loquat”, “Plum”, Eriobotria japonica.
John Nelson is the former curator of the A.C. Moore Herbarium at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. As a public service, the herbarium offers free plant identification. For more information, visit herbarium.org, call (803) 777-8196, or email [email protected].