Help me identify this fruit
December 15, 2015 4:24 AM Subscribe
My friend's rented property near Albury, Australia, has a fruit tree, and he's brought me some samples and asked me what it is and if it's edible.
Here's a picture of the sample he brought down to Melbourne with fruits and leaves.
As you can see in the picture, it's got very finely serrated leaves, fruits look like grapes, they taste like plums... (yes one was tasted...) someone suggested it's a Chickasaw plum which is a US thing, it does look similar however what are the chances a wild plum plant from the US made its way into Albury...
Here's a picture of the sample he brought down to Melbourne with fruits and leaves.
As you can see in the picture, it's got very finely serrated leaves, fruits look like grapes, they taste like plums... (yes one was tasted...) someone suggested it's a Chickasaw plum which is a US thing, it does look similar however what are the chances a wild plum plant from the US made its way into Albury...
These look like cherries to me, even the leaf matches. Does it have a single stone in the middle?
Do an image search for 'cherry and leaf' and you will find lots of similar pictures.
posted by Akke at 4:41 AM on December 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
Do an image search for 'cherry and leaf' and you will find lots of similar pictures.
posted by Akke at 4:41 AM on December 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
http://uncommonfruit.cias.wisc.edu/cherry-plum/
It looks to me like it could be one kind of a cherry-plum hybrid. They are like cherry-sized (sometimes a bit larger) plums and I love them when I can find them at farmer's markets.
posted by Mizu at 4:54 AM on December 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
It looks to me like it could be one kind of a cherry-plum hybrid. They are like cherry-sized (sometimes a bit larger) plums and I love them when I can find them at farmer's markets.
posted by Mizu at 4:54 AM on December 15, 2015 [1 favorite]
I've seen those grown in Tasmania. Pretty sure my mum refers to them as plums.
posted by kitten magic at 5:14 AM on December 15, 2015
posted by kitten magic at 5:14 AM on December 15, 2015
Less cherry and more plum from where I'm standing. Cherry leaves are usually longer and thinner. Also, those stems do not look like cherry stems (and honestly, they look the most like crabapple stems). How are the pits? What do the fruits look like on the inside?
It might be a hybrid, like Mizu suggests. Some ornamental plum crossed with something wild or something more deliberate.
posted by lydhre at 5:15 AM on December 15, 2015
It might be a hybrid, like Mizu suggests. Some ornamental plum crossed with something wild or something more deliberate.
posted by lydhre at 5:15 AM on December 15, 2015
Also your friend should be careful travelling around with fresh fruit, pretty sure he would've crossed through the fruit fly exclusion zone driving from Albury to Melbourne.
posted by kitten magic at 5:18 AM on December 15, 2015
posted by kitten magic at 5:18 AM on December 15, 2015
Response by poster: Picture of the inside of the fruit and the pit.
It's more plum-like than cherry-like in terms of texture and skin, so I'm leaning towards it being some kind of dwarf plum or cherry-plum hybrid, I was hoping for it to be some "known" fruit or plant rather than a one-of-a-kind wild plant.
posted by xdvesper at 5:27 AM on December 15, 2015
It's more plum-like than cherry-like in terms of texture and skin, so I'm leaning towards it being some kind of dwarf plum or cherry-plum hybrid, I was hoping for it to be some "known" fruit or plant rather than a one-of-a-kind wild plant.
posted by xdvesper at 5:27 AM on December 15, 2015
Those one of a kind hybrids are how we got Granny Smith Apple's. If you like the fruit you can always graft it to reproduce it.
posted by wwax at 5:48 AM on December 15, 2015
posted by wwax at 5:48 AM on December 15, 2015
Best answer: That's most definitely a cherry plum. They grow in hedgerows around here (South Wales, UK) in abundance, fruiting in early-mid August. Our local variety tends towards the yellow colour, which are also known as Mirabelle plums. Absolutely delicious made into jam.
posted by car01 at 5:59 AM on December 15, 2015 [2 favorites]
posted by car01 at 5:59 AM on December 15, 2015 [2 favorites]
Yes, it's a wild plum. We currently have bucketloads of them fruiting in NZ at present, varying in colour from greenish to red like the picture & yellow.
Usually they are too sour to eat raw, but can be used to make jam etc.
posted by HiroProtagonist at 4:53 PM on December 15, 2015
Usually they are too sour to eat raw, but can be used to make jam etc.
posted by HiroProtagonist at 4:53 PM on December 15, 2015
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posted by jon1270 at 4:34 AM on December 15, 2015