"That's amazing! You should go on What's My Fruit!"
February 2, 2008 12:33 PM Subscribe
What is this fruit tree in my back yard?
In the interests of reclaiming my back yard before god-kill-me summer arrives, I've been.. investigating. I found what I think is a tree with fruit. It could be a tree with vines that have fruit; I can't tell, as it is part of a big mess of two trees that were planted far too close to each other and the whole shebang is well overrun with vines.
Most of the fruits look like this. The older ones look like this. They smell nice - almost like citrus, but that could be coming from a grapefruit tree nearby. You can see the leaves in those photos, and the stems are dark and woody. There are tiny little thorns opposite where each leaf sprouts out. Tiny sharp thorns. Ow. The tree/vine and I are both in Florida, if that helps narrow it down.
I know better than to ask Metafilter if I can eat something, so: has this fruit been, historically, safely consumed by humans? Humans who are not me?
In the interests of reclaiming my back yard before god-kill-me summer arrives, I've been.. investigating. I found what I think is a tree with fruit. It could be a tree with vines that have fruit; I can't tell, as it is part of a big mess of two trees that were planted far too close to each other and the whole shebang is well overrun with vines.
Most of the fruits look like this. The older ones look like this. They smell nice - almost like citrus, but that could be coming from a grapefruit tree nearby. You can see the leaves in those photos, and the stems are dark and woody. There are tiny little thorns opposite where each leaf sprouts out. Tiny sharp thorns. Ow. The tree/vine and I are both in Florida, if that helps narrow it down.
I know better than to ask Metafilter if I can eat something, so: has this fruit been, historically, safely consumed by humans? Humans who are not me?
Those loquat leaves look considerably different from the leaves in the posted photo.
cmyk: Have you cut one of these fruits in half? It would help to see what the insides look like.
posted by shakespeherian at 1:05 PM on February 2, 2008
cmyk: Have you cut one of these fruits in half? It would help to see what the insides look like.
posted by shakespeherian at 1:05 PM on February 2, 2008
Think that's a passion fruit.
posted by watercarrier at 1:12 PM on February 2, 2008
posted by watercarrier at 1:12 PM on February 2, 2008
See if these pics don't resonate. If it is passion fruit - it's safe and delicious to eat.
posted by watercarrier at 1:18 PM on February 2, 2008
posted by watercarrier at 1:18 PM on February 2, 2008
Response by poster: O O O O shakespeherian, I sliced them open for you. Here. Zippo lighter for size reference.
There's a pit in the center and the flesh reminds me of apples. These might not be ripe yet - they didn't have much of a smell and they were still greeny-yellow.
posted by cmyk at 1:29 PM on February 2, 2008
There's a pit in the center and the flesh reminds me of apples. These might not be ripe yet - they didn't have much of a smell and they were still greeny-yellow.
posted by cmyk at 1:29 PM on February 2, 2008
It's not a passionfruit, either from the outside or the inside. It does look kind of loquat-like, but it will be a bit easier to tell when they're ripe.
My advice would be to take in a cutting and a fruit to your local plant store (choose a good one, not a random chain store). I've had good luck getting plants recognised and diseases diagnosed this way as the people behind the counter usually have local knowledge and gardens of their own.
posted by shelleycat at 1:43 PM on February 2, 2008
My advice would be to take in a cutting and a fruit to your local plant store (choose a good one, not a random chain store). I've had good luck getting plants recognised and diseases diagnosed this way as the people behind the counter usually have local knowledge and gardens of their own.
posted by shelleycat at 1:43 PM on February 2, 2008
looks like a japanese plum to me. . . We have those in our backyard, too. Yum!
posted by arnicae at 2:19 PM on February 2, 2008
posted by arnicae at 2:19 PM on February 2, 2008
Looks like plums, not sure if japanese. In case, japanese plums are called Ume. I call them yummy. Do they get sweet when ripe? (yes, probably you didn't taste them, yet)
posted by _dario at 2:43 PM on February 2, 2008
posted by _dario at 2:43 PM on February 2, 2008
I would say you've definitely got some kind of vine happening there, whether the fruit comes from which/what I couldn't say :) But those curly bits are a dead giveaway! (My first guess was Passionfruit too, but the insides were all wrong for that! And then I read your question properly... duh)
Off the top of my head - Pit in center = Stonefruit ??
posted by mu~ha~ha~ha~har at 2:51 PM on February 2, 2008
Off the top of my head - Pit in center = Stonefruit ??
posted by mu~ha~ha~ha~har at 2:51 PM on February 2, 2008
Best answer: I believe you have a jujube.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jujube
posted by gjc at 6:36 PM on February 2, 2008
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jujube
posted by gjc at 6:36 PM on February 2, 2008
Best answer: Jujube looks right. Here's the fruit.
posted by shakespeherian at 10:41 PM on February 2, 2008
posted by shakespeherian at 10:41 PM on February 2, 2008
Response by poster: That's got to be it. These pictures especially look like it.
posted by cmyk at 11:00 PM on February 2, 2008
posted by cmyk at 11:00 PM on February 2, 2008
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by thinkingwoman at 12:37 PM on February 2, 2008