Mespilus germanica requires warm summers and mild winters and prefers sunny, dry locations and slightly acidic soil.Under ideal circumstances, the deciduous plant grows up to 8 metres (26 ft) tall.Generally, it is shorter and more shrub-like than tree-like.With a lifespan of 30–50 years, the medlar tree is rather short-lived.Its bark is greyish brown with deep vertical cracks forming rectangular plates that tend to lift off.The leaves are dark green and elliptic, 8–15 centimetres (3.1–5.9 in) long and 3–5 centimetres (1.2–2.0 in) wide.The leaves are densely hairy (pubescent) below, and turn red in autumn before falling.

The flowers have five broadly ovate white petals.The flowers appear in late spring, are hermaphrodite, pollinated by bees, and self-fertile.The flower is 6 centimetres (2.4 in) wide.The reddish-brown fruit is a pome, 2–3 centimetres (0.79–1.18 in) diameter, with wide-spreading persistent sepals around a central pit, giving a 'hollow' appearance to the fruit.Musmula fruit plants in Keralais now available in our farms.