Mespilus loquat, one of several "Eriobotrya" species, was formerly thought to be closely related to the genus "Mespilus", and is still sometimes known in some European countries as a medlar and is still sometimes called the "Japanese medlar". Many authors group "Mespilus" together with "Crataegus" in a single genus. When thus combined, the correct species name is "Crataegus germanica" (L.) Kuntze. The common name “snowy mespilus” attaches to certain species of "Amelanchier", notably "Amelanchier lamarckii" and "Amelanchier ovalis". "Mespilus germanica" features an unusual apple-like fruit. In southern Europe, the medlar fruit ripen fully and can be eaten off the tree, but
Forbidden fruit Paramhansa Yogananda cites an interpretation by his master Swami Sri Yukteswar Giri that the Garden of Eden refers to man's body, with the fruit in the center being that of the sexual organs. In Western Europe, the fruit was often depicted as an apple. This was possibly because of a misunderstanding of – or a pun on – "mălum", a native Latin noun which means evil (from the adjective "malus"), and "mālum", another Latin noun, borrowed from Greek μῆλον, which means apple. In the Vulgate, Genesis 2:17 describes the tree as "de ligno autem scientiae boni et mali" : "but