台湾林檎 tai wan lin qin

Pyrus doumeri Bois, Bull. Soc. Bot. France 51: 113. 1940; Docynia doumeri (Bois) C. K. Schneider; D. indica (Wallich) Decaisne var. doumeri (Bois) A. Chevalier; D. indica var. laosensis (Cardot) A. Chevalier; Eriolobus doumeri (Bois) C. K. Schneider; Malus asiatica Nakai var. argutiserrata Hu & Chen; M. doumeri var. formosana (Kawakami & Koidzumi ex Hayata) S. S. Ying; M. formosana (Kawakami & Koidzumi ex Hayata) Kawakami & Koidzumi; M. laosensis (Cardot) A. Chevalier; M. melliana (Handel-Mazzetti) Rehder; Pyrus formosana Kawakami & Koidzumi ex Hayata; P. laosensis Cardot; P. melliana Handel-Mazzetti.

Trees to 15 m tall. Branchlets grayish brown or purplish brown when old, terete, villous when young, glabrous when old; buds reddish purple, ovoid, pubescent or only pubescent along margin of scales. Stipules caducous, linear-lanceolate, membranous, glabrous, margin entire, apex acuminate; petiole 1.5–3 cm, tomentose when young, glabrescent; leaf blade narrowly elliptic-ovate or obovate-lanceolate, 9–15 × 4–6.5 cm, both surfaces white tomentose when young, glabrescent, base rounded or cuneate, margin irregularly serrate, apex acuminate, Corymb umbel-like, 3–5 cm in diam., 4- or 5-flowered; bracts caducous, linear-lanceolate, membranous, glabrous, margin entire, apex obtuse. Pedicel 1.5–3 cm, white tomentose. Flowers 2.5–3 cm in diam. Hypanthium campanulate, abaxially tomentose, prolonged into short tube at apex. Sepals ovate or lanceolate, ca. 8 mm, ca. as long as or slightly longer than hypanthium, abaxially tomentose, adaxially densely tomentose, margin entire, apex acuminate. Petals yellowish white; obovate, 1–2 cm, base shortly clawed, apex rounded. Stamens unequal, slightly shorter than petals. Ovary 4- or 5-loculed, with 2 ovules per locule; styles 4 or 5, longer than stamens, long tomentose basally. Pome yellowish red, globose, 2.5–5.5 cm in diam.; distal part of hypanthium tubular, 5–8 mm, core free; fruiting pedicel 1–3 cm, glabrous; sepals persistent. Fl. May, fr. Aug–Sep.

Forests; 1000--2000 m. Guangdong, Guangxi, Guizhou, Hunan, Jiangxi, Taiwan, Yunnan, Zhejiang [Laos, Vietnam].

This species can be used as stock for grafting apple trees in subtropical regions. The fruit are edible.

In floral structure, this species is similar to Docynia, and some authors have placed it in that genus. However, in Malus, there are two ovules per locule, not many, as in Docynia. Consequently, it should be retained in the genus Malus.