Any of the fruit shrubs and small trees that make up the genus Cydonia , in the rose family.
Common quince ( C. oblonga ) is native to Iran, Turkey, and perhaps Greece and the Crimea. The raw golden-yellow fruit has a strong fragrant aroma and astringent taste; it takes on a pink colour when cooked and makes an excellent preserve. The Japanese quince ( Chaenomeles species) is an ornamental shrub widely used for its flowers, which appear on the tightly branched stems before the leaves open fully in late winter and early spring.
Quince ( Cydonia oblonga ).
Walter Chandoha