The quince, or Cydonia oblonga, is the sole member of the genus
Cydonia and native to warm-temperate southwest Asia in the
Caucasus region. It is a small, deciduous tree, growing 5–8 m
tall and 4–6 m wide, related to apples and pears, and like them
has a pome fruit, which is bright golden yellow when mature,
pear-shaped, 7–12 cm long and 6–9 cm broad. The immature fruit
is green with dense grey-white pubescence, most of which rubs
off before maturity in late autumn when the fruit changes colour
to yellow with hard, strongly perfumed flesh. The leaves are
alternately arranged, simple, 6–11 cm long, with an entire
margin and densely pubescent with fine white hairs. The flowers,
produced in spring after the leaves, are white or pink, 5 cm
across, with five petals. Four other species previously included
in the genus Cydonia are now treated in separate genera. These
are the Chinese quince Pseudocydonia sinensis, a native of
China, and the three flowering quinces of eastern Asia in the
genus Chaenomeles. Another un