Mespilus germanica or hawthorn, to improve their performance in different soils. "Mespilus germanica" fruits are hard and acidic, but become edible after being softened, 'bletted', by frost, or naturally in storage given sufficient time. Once softening begins, the skin rapidly takes on a wrinkled texture and turns dark brown, and the inside reduces to the consistency and flavour reminiscent of apple sauce. This process can confuse those new to medlars, as a softened fruit looks as if it has spoiled. Once bletted, the fruit can be eaten raw and is often eaten as a dessert, or used to make medlar jelly. They
Apple with a fruit unknown in the Middle East in biblical times is found in confusion between the Latin words "mālum" (an apple) and "mălum" (an evil), each of which is normally written "malum". The tree of the forbidden fruit is called "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil" in , and the Latin for "good and evil" is "bonum et malum". Renaissance painters may also have been influenced by the story of the golden apples in the Garden of Hesperides. As a result, in the story of Adam and Eve, the apple became a symbol for knowledge, immortality,