In China the red berries, tangy to taste and containing much vitamin-C, are used to make sweets, food, and wine as well as traditional medicines. In particular, the larger-berried form C. pinnatifida var. major, with berries the size of gooseberries, is widely cultivated. Chinese haw is also widely used as root stock when grafting dwarf forms of its close relations, the pears (Pyrus) and the quince (Cydonia)
Used to a steady continental climate, Chinese haw begins its growth in spring as soon as the weather warms, so where to plant it demands some consideration. The Mustila trees are from North Korea and have grown well under a protective canopy near the Arboretum’s Kahvila (Coffee House) and on Atsalearinne (Azalea slope), but badly on the sunny slope of Ketunmäki (Fox Hill).