Trees and Shrubs

Malus domestica ‘Sweet Rennet’

‘A green, Somersetshire apple, of middle size. It is an early variety, and bears well, but has not sufficient character to make good cider by itself.’ [HP].

Malus domestica ‘White Nonpareil’

Fruit; very similar to Nonpareil [which see]. Skin; greenish of yellowish green, covered with brownish-red tinge next the sun, sprinkled with russet dots and a thin coating of grey russet. flesh; greenish, tender, crisp, very juicy and sweet, rich flavour, but not as rich as Nonpareil. [HP pl.XXI/1878].

Malus domestica ‘White Spanish Reinette’

‘This extremely valuable variety stands in the first class of autumn fruits, and is very large; its form is roundish oblong; skin smooth, yellowish green, tinged with orange; flesh yellowish, crisp, and tender, with a very rich, sugary juice. It ripens in October, and keeps well as a fall apple.’ [FCM p.41/1845

Fruit; very large, oblato-oblong, angular sides. Skin; smooth, yellowish-green in the shade, orange next the sun, strewn with dark dots. Flesh; yellowish white, tender, juicy and sugary. ‘An apple of first rate quality suitable for dessert, but more especially for culinary purposes.’ Ripe between December and April. An excellent bearer.  [HP pl.XVII/1878].

Malus domestica ‘Wilding Bitter-sweet’

Macarthur’s ‘Loseby’s Bitter-sweet’ may be similar to the apple described here ‘Wilding Bitter-sweet’. I have found no specific reference to the former.

Fruit; roundish ovate to conical, ribbed. Skin; pale yellow, tinged with green, strewn with russet dots. flesh; white and tender. Juice moderate in quantity, a deep amber colour and of a vapid, bitter-sweet taste. It makes a highly coloured, sweet cider. [HP pl.XLV/1878].

Malus domestica ‘Winter Pearmain’

Fruit middle-sized, regularly shaped, tapering a little from the base to the crown, which is a little narrowed. Eye small, and closed by the short segments of the calyx. Stalk short, slender, protruding a little beyond the base. Skin a grass green, with a little colour of a livid red on the sunny side, interspersed with a few dark specks, particularly on the produce of old trees, especially those which are encumbered with a profusion of wood. Flesh pale green, firm, crisp. Juice not plentiful, but saccharine, and of a slight aromatic flavour. A dessert apple from November till March.’ [George Lindley – Orchard Guide p.84/1831].

Malus domestica ‘Wood Rick’

I have found no description of this apple in the contemporary literature.

Malus domestica Borkh.

The Apple is a hardy deciduous tree with simple, ovate leaves, to 12cm long.  The pink or white 5-petalled flowers are produced in clusters in spring together with the leaves. To 12m.  [RHSD, Hortus and other sources].

Malus domestica ‘Downton Pippin’

‘The Downton Golden Pippin is a most abundant bearer, and the fruit extremely well adapted for market; it is rather larger than the common Golden Pippin; skin nearly smooth; yellow, sprinkled with numerous specks; flesh yellowish, crisp, with a brisk, rich, sub-acid juice; specific gravity 10.79. Ripe in October and November, and will keep until Christmas’. Listed under Autumn Fruit. [FCM p.40/1845]. The fruit is fit for the press in the middle of November but will keep until the spring. Free-growing and highly productive tree. Developed by Thomas Knight. [HP].

Malus spectabilis (Ait.) Borkh.

Fully-hardy, rounded tree with oval leaves, to 9cm long, and blush-pink flowers in spring, followed by yellow fruit, to 2.5cm across.  To 10m.  [RHSE, Hortus, Hilliers’].

Mandevilla crassinoda (Gardn.) Woodson.

Frost-tender, vigorous twining climber with lustrous leaves and racemes of deep rose-pink, funnel-shaped flowers in summer.  [RHSD]. 

Mandevilla laxa (Ruiz. & Pav.) Woodson

Frost-tender, vigorous, freely branching, woody-stemmed, twining climber with pointed oblong leaves, to 10cm long, and racemes of 5-15 tubular, strongly fragrant, white flowers, to 9cm across, in summer and autumn.  To 5m.  [RHSE, Hilliers’].

Mandevilla longiflora (Desf.) Pichon

Frost-tender evergreen climber with white flowers in summer.  To 2m.  

Manettia cordifolia Mart. var. glabra

Frost tender, vigorous climber with lance-shaped leaves, to 8cm long, and tubular, brilliant red to deep orange flowers, to 5cm long, sometimes yellow-flushed at the lobes, borne singly or in leafy panicles from late winter to summer.  To 4m.  In the variety glabra the segments of the calyx are narrower than in the type.  [RHSE, Hortus, Don].

Melastoma species unidentified

Melastoma is a genus of about 70 species of mainly evergreen shrubs and small trees from India and South East Asia.  They produce bowl- or saucer-shaped flowers, from white to purple, followed by fleshy berries.  

Melia azedarach L.

Frost tender, fast-growing, many-branched, spreading, deciduous tree with fissured grey bark, pinnate leaves, to 60cm long, with many, toothed leaflets, and a profusion of star-shaped, fragrant, lilac flowers, to 2cm across, in arching panicles from spring to summer, followed by yellow fruit.  To 15m.  [RHSE, Hilliers’].