The loquat.

Everywhere you look in Australia there seem to be loquat trees happily growing minding their own business and producing delicious yellow fruits with distinct brown seeds. This picture of a healthy mature loquat tree preparing to flower was taken outside the house I'm renting in Hawthorn. It is one of 3 on the property and one of many on the street. I'm definitely looking forward to munching on one or two when getting home each day. So here's some more information about one of the trees you probably see everyday...

The loquat is often thought to have originated in Japan and even its botanical name Eriobotrya japonica suggests it does, but it was introduced to Japan over 1000 years ago from south east China. Japan is still the largest producer of loquats ( up to 17,000 tonnes annually) with some of the major producers have monorail systems to transport their fruit from their hillside plantations.

Loquat trees are most suited to elevations between 1000ft and 5000ft. Extreme summer heat at low elevation is detrimental to the plant and hot dry winds such as those experienced in Perth can cause leaf scorch. At the other end of the scale a mature plant can withstand temperatures as low as -11 degrees Celsius while the flowers and fruit can survive in temperatures as low as -3 and -4 degrees Celsius respectively. Loquats can survive in most soils of moderate and even low fertility as long as it has good drainage.

As you can see in the image below the loquat is suited to nearly all Australian climates (I'm not convinced that put out in the desert without watering a loquat will survive), the exceptions being the elevated areas and Tasmania due to its cooler climate. Trees may grow in climates not 100% to their liking but may not produce any fruit, becoming an ornamental plant taking advantage of the large green leaves.Seeds from mature plants are quite easy to propagate and I have done so myself by taking seeds, placing them in pots and covering with a little soil. A couple of weeks later, watering most days (in summer, Perth full sun on bricks) young plants were growing in all three of the pots. Generally plants grown from seeds are for ornamental purposes or to be used as root stock. Trees grown from seed may take 8-10 years to fruit. There are now over 900 varieties of loquats in the world and in 2003 a new seedless variety was developed in Japan.

Apart from just eating the fruit it can be made into jams or some people prefer to make spiced loquats with cloves, cinnamon, lemon and vinegar and/or other spices. Fruit that is slightly under ripe has enough pectin present to make jelly.

##FUN FACTS##
Loquats can have a mild sedative effect lasting up to 24 hours if eaten in large quantities.
Seeds and young leaves are slightly poisonous and have a bitter taste to avoid being eaten.

Morton, J 1987, Loquat,  http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/loquat.html
O'hara, S, Eirobotrya japonica, http://www.gimcw.org/plants/Eriobotrya.japonica.cfm
Wikipeida 2012, Loquat, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loquat