A bael fruit by any other name is ... well, it might be a Bengal quince, Indian quince or "holy fruit" (so-called because the bael tree that produces the fruit is a holy tree in Hindu culture). The bael fruit might be called a golden apple.
Or it might be called a stone apple or wood apple. These two alternate names derive from the fact that some bael fruit varieties grow such thick, hard exteriors that it's said they must be cracked open with a hammer!
The scientific name of the tree is aegle marmelos, and of the fruit aegle marmelos correa. The author Julia Morton, in the 1987 book Fruits of Warm Climates, lists other names for the bael fruit from other languages and cultures:
India: bel, bela, sirphal, maredoo
Thailand: matum and mapin
Cambodia: phneou or pnoi
Vietnam: bau nau
Malaysia: bilak or maja pahit
Java: modjo
Morton writes that in French, the bael fruit it is called oranger du Malabar; and in Portuguese, marmelos.
Another source adds that additional regional names for the bael fruit include bilva, bilwa, kuvalam, loovalam, madtoum and beli fruit.
