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
Apple (symbolism) a result, the apple became a symbol for knowledge, immortality, temptation, the fall of man and sin. The classical Greek word μήλον (mēlon), or dialectal μᾶλον (mālon), now a loanword in English as melon, meant tree fruit in general, but was borrowed into Latin as "", meaning 'apple'. The similarity of this word to Latin ("") , meaning 'evil', may also have influenced the apple's becoming interpreted as the biblical 'forbidden fruit' in the commonly used Latin translation called "Vulgate". The larynx in the human throat has been called Adam's apple because of the folk tale that the bulge was