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 (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