Common Quince: Fragrant, Hard Fruit for Cooking and Jelly

The fruit is quince (Cydonia oblonga)—large, apple-like, very hard, only edible cooked. Varieties include round or elongated shapes. One fruit perfumes a room. Flowering quinces (Chaenomeles) are different landscape plants with smaller fruit also usable for jelly. Quince was a childhood treat in the South—dense, sweet-tart, eaten by scraping with teeth.