The Wild Fruit Buffet (plant pics and questions)

MSCantrell

Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Mar 12, 2005
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Got out to see some plants this afternoon, and boy did I ever hit the jackpot. Most of the plants I'd been wishing to find are within walking distance. Can't believe I've been driving places to hunt for these. :mad: :p

Without further ado:


I was surprised to find this plum tree at the peak of ripeness. These babies are amazing.
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And here's the fruit (unripe) and leaves. Anybody name the species?
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And the entire tree, although the Virginia Creeper and Trumpetvine(?) are obscuring it a little:
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The mulberries are past, but here's mulberry leaves:
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And the whole tree (just a little one):
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Blackberries or black raspberries. Or salmonberries or something. All the compound berries are yummy, so knowing the difference isn't going to change my behavior. Learning them is a low priority (but as above, if anybody knows the species, please share).
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Little cherries. Pin cherries, maybe?
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Continued below- 10 photo limit...
 

Passionflower/passionfruit! Before the flowers blossomed, I knew these leaves were familiar, but I couldn't place them. These guys are EVERYWHERE.
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Persimmons; these won't be ripe for a while.
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Pears! These won't be ripe for a while either. I had a great time making perry from a wild tree in MI last fall; I can't wait to do it again. Really excited to have found a few pear trees!
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Although a few of the pears had a horrible grotesque disease. WTH is this?
I picked off all the clusters of fruit where a bad one was growing. Did that help? Was it worth the trouble?
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I thinned this peach tree aggressively at the beginning of the season, and as I hoped, the fruits are nice and big.
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But the tree is infested with ants. Are they the cause of this unhappy weeping of thick, clear fluid?
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Last, here's a nut tree. I won't be able to do much with them, as the ground below is a thick carpet of poison ivy. But for education's sake: hickory nuts, right?
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What a great day, to find all these things growing so close nearby!
 
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i believe they are called cherry plums,although not in my parts,we have quite few different names for that fruit :)

And if you can avoid poison ivy, pick few(8-10) of green nuts,cut them in half ,ad some sugar(20 dkg),vanilla stick and 1lit.of spirit( grappa is fine)couple pieces of lemon,keep them in bottle on sun for at least 40 days,and you have great drink.;)
 
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And here's the fruit (unripe) and leaves. Anybody name the species?
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And the entire tree, although the Virginia Creeper and Trumpetvine(?) are obscuring it a little:
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If I saw those around here, I'd say Sandhill plum (AKA Chickasaw plum), but I don't know if those are common down your way. I can't really tell from the photo, but the tree/bush looks a little large for it to be them; but maybe??
 
If I saw those around here, I'd say Sandhill plum (AKA Chickasaw plum), but I don't know if those are common down your way. I can't really tell from the photo, but the tree/bush looks a little large for it to be them; but maybe??

Yeah, sorry it's not a great picture of the bush. It's about 8' high- maybe that's helpful?

Edit... quick bit of research, yep Prunus americana, that seems to be right, especially if you allow for some hybridization. Thanks!
 
holy moly, that's a lot of fruits! i'm jealous. the only fruit i've ran across while hiking are blackberries.
 
holy moly, that's a lot of fruits! i'm jealous. the only fruit i've ran across while hiking are blackberries.

Seriously. Raspberries is all I can ever find. The Garden State isn't the most lush when it comes to wild edibles.

Lately I've found a few small patches of small, wild strawberries. But they're completely flavorless.

I know for a fact that there are a few wild blueberry patches, but haven't seen one in a decade or so.


While on the subject, anyone know what those stupid little red berry bushes are? They thrive on the side of every country road in NJ, are LOADED with berries, but I've been told not to eat them.
 
I've got the exact same plum trees on my property. Very tasty, but the bugs get them quicker than I do!

ROCK6
 
While on the subject, anyone know what those stupid little red berry bushes are? They thrive on the side of every country road in NJ, are LOADED with berries, but I've been told not to eat them.

You gotta give more detail than that for a real answer, but how about.... Tartarian Honeysuckle?
 
Wow, great day of edibles. That disease on the pears looks like some kind of fungal infection which may be very dangerous if consumed. As for the peaches... There may have been an ant nest that was dependent on the fruit of that tree before you "thinned it out aggressively" I think it's best not to interfere like that unless you're sure that you're benefiting the surrounding plants and animals in the area etc.
Great pics though, thanks a lot for sharing :)
 
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Up here, that would be either Choke Cherry (Prunus virginiana) or Black Cherry (P. serotina). Pin Cherry (P. pensylvanica) has fruit in clusters, not in racemes.

If I had to guess, I'd say Choke Cherry. Hard to tell how sharp the teeth are on the margin. Choke Cherry has sharp-pointed teeth, while Black Cherry are blunt, by comparison.

Doc

Just looked it up in Peterson - the only Cherries (Prunus spp.) (at least in North America) that have flowers/fruits in racemes (elongated clusters) are Black Cherry, Choke Cherry and European Bird Cherry (P. padus).

Doc
 
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