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The "Tachi-tenno-ume" (Osteomeles schwerinae) belongs to Rosaceae (the Rose family). It is a small evergreen or semi-evergreen tree that is distributed in the Ogasawara Islands in Japan and central China. It grows in dry, rocky, gravelly areas and grows 1 to 4 m tall. The branches are slender and terete, reddish brown or purple in color. They are initially densely covered with grayish-white pubescence. It has odd pinnate compound leaves with 6 to 16 pairs of linear elliptic to narrowly obovate leaflets. From March to May, small white flowers bloom in corymbs at the ends of branches. The fruit is a spherical pome-like fruit that ripens to a blackish purple color and is eaten raw or used to make jellies and jams. In Chinese, it is called "華西小石積" (hu xi xiao shi ji).
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