Author Topic: Hovenia dulcis  (Read 7298 times)

stuartdaly88

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Hovenia dulcis
« on: October 17, 2015, 11:01:36 PM »
Anyone growing this?
Interestingly you eat the rachis not the fruit! Meant to be a good substitute for dates and science has recently found a substance in it can massively reduce hangovers, ha ha might be handy to have  ;) ;D
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hovenia_dulcis

« Last Edit: October 17, 2015, 11:05:37 PM by stuartdaly88 »
Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.
-Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Solko

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Re: Hovenia dulcis
« Reply #1 on: October 20, 2015, 04:55:18 AM »
I just got two seedlings a couple of months ago. They are still small and in pots, so I cannot comment on the fruit... I had been looking for a while for this species, based on what I read about it, but they aren't easy to find here in Europe. The nursery said they were a bit of a curiosity, and that after trying them once, they were ok, but no-one ever went back to eating the fruit in the following years...


stuartdaly88

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Re: Hovenia dulcis
« Reply #2 on: October 20, 2015, 12:23:18 PM »
Hmmm thanks Solko!
I would still limestone get my hands on this iv found people don't eat things year after year because they are lazy! Many have mulberry or loquat in their gardens but don't even bother to gorge like I do in season:)
Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.
-Jean-Jacques Rousseau

stuartdaly88

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Re: Hovenia dulcis
« Reply #3 on: October 20, 2015, 12:23:59 PM »
It is also a lovely tree!
Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.
-Jean-Jacques Rousseau

jackedfruit

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Re: Hovenia dulcis
« Reply #4 on: October 20, 2015, 01:44:45 PM »
Indeed it’s quite a curious tree. I've seen a few decent specimens in Sweden, so it's really hardy too. However, the pseudo-fruit rarely ripens before the first freeze. I'd say it has a “pearish” date taste, but milder. Not something I'd stuff myself with but it's a good snack to grab when walking by. I believe the Japanese make some sort of syrup out of the sap.

 A lot of European online nurseries carries it.

stuartdaly88

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Re: Hovenia dulcis
« Reply #5 on: October 20, 2015, 04:21:12 PM »
Indeed it’s quite a curious tree. I've seen a few decent specimens in Sweden, so it's really hardy too. However, the pseudo-fruit rarely ripens before the first freeze. I'd say it has a “pearish” date taste, but milder. Not something I'd stuff myself with but it's a good snack to grab when walking by. I believe the Japanese make some sort of syrup out of the sap.

 A lot of European online nurseries carries it.
That sounds nice:)
Iv read it can be used in recipes that call for dates
Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.
-Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Delvi83

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Re: Hovenia dulcis
« Reply #6 on: October 24, 2015, 03:33:59 AM »
Do they taste like Palm Date fruits??
It's a very nice plant, but I saw only seedling plant.....are known cultivars? grafted plants?

jmc96

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Re: Hovenia dulcis
« Reply #7 on: January 25, 2016, 05:56:01 AM »
I noticed mine in flower for the first time.


stuartdaly88

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Re: Hovenia dulcis
« Reply #8 on: February 05, 2016, 08:48:43 AM »
I noticed mine in flower for the first time.

Awesome:)
How old is the plant?
Iv tried to germinate seeds from Ebay a bunch of times without any luck I wonder if they need to cold stratify
Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.
-Jean-Jacques Rousseau

jmc96

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Re: Hovenia dulcis
« Reply #9 on: February 05, 2016, 03:28:03 PM »
I noticed mine in flower for the first time.

Awesome:)
How old is the plant?
Iv tried to germinate seeds from Ebay a bunch of times without any luck I wonder if they need to cold stratify
My tree is getting up there, maybe  7-8 years old.
Yes, I've read that freezing the seeds can help and scarifying the hard seed coat as well.
Happy to send you some fresh seed if I remember when they ripen.

stuartdaly88

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Re: Hovenia dulcis
« Reply #10 on: February 05, 2016, 03:31:59 PM »
I noticed mine in flower for the first time.

Awesome:)
How old is the plant?
Iv tried to germinate seeds from Ebay a bunch of times without any luck I wonder if they need to cold stratify
My tree is getting up there, maybe  7-8 years old.
Yes, I've read that freezing the seeds can help and scarifying the hard seed coat as well.
Happy to send you some fresh seed if I remember when they ripen.
Thanks Jmc96 that would be amazing!

I suspected it would need quite abit of age on it to fruit as iv only seen large specimens in fruit online.
It is a really interesting species please keep us updated.of it's progress.
Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.
-Jean-Jacques Rousseau

jmc96

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Re: Hovenia dulcis
« Reply #11 on: February 05, 2016, 04:05:20 PM »
I noticed mine in flower for the first time.

Awesome:)
How old is the plant?
Iv tried to germinate seeds from Ebay a bunch of times without any luck I wonder if they need to cold stratify
My tree is getting up there, maybe  7-8 years old.
Yes, I've read that freezing the seeds can help and scarifying the hard seed coat as well.
Happy to send you some fresh seed if I remember when they ripen.
Thanks Jmc96 that would be amazing!

I suspected it would need quite abit of age on it to fruit as iv only seen large specimens in fruit online.
It is a really interesting species please keep us updated.of it's progress.

You're welcome, this is the first year I've noticed flowers, let's hope they hold and produce seed.
There is also a large old fruiting Hovenia dulcis tree an hour by car from my place, I'll stop off and check it out next time I'm in the area.

shaneatwell

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Re: Hovenia dulcis
« Reply #12 on: February 05, 2016, 09:10:18 PM »
Found a source for seeds :)
Shane

BrianL

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Re: Hovenia dulcis
« Reply #13 on: February 05, 2016, 10:42:41 PM »
When I germinated mine I did cold stratify.  I forget if I then knicked the seed coat or not.  It was years ago. 

stuartdaly88

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Re: Hovenia dulcis
« Reply #14 on: February 08, 2016, 08:37:01 AM »
Really cool tree :D
I wonder if this is the only tree with edible rachis in the world. SO weird that the fruit is not the edible part!

Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.
-Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Delvi83

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Re: Hovenia dulcis
« Reply #15 on: February 12, 2016, 03:44:38 AM »
I think also Anacardio (Anacardium occidentale) is similar...

Anyway....did someone know if there are selected cultivars of Hovenia dulcis?

dafo

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Re: Hovenia dulcis
« Reply #16 on: March 04, 2016, 04:01:39 AM »
Hi! I have a tree of Hovenia dulcis and some time ago I was also looking for any details on care and other characteristics but at that time there was no info about any cultivars. However today I saw your question and checked again and found that there is a cultivar named Poong-Sung 1 that is described as high yield cultivar compared to a original koreana Nakai cultivar.

SeaWalnut

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Re: Hovenia dulcis
« Reply #17 on: March 19, 2020, 11:42:24 PM »
I got a seedling and it grows fast.
Its from rhamnaceae and the wood its verry beautifull ,not as pink ivory wood but cloose and they are distant relatives.
Its for sure a precious wood but lucky its not well known or else the trees would have been wiped out.
The pink ivory tree its also a fruit tree with good reviews about the fruit.

shaneatwell

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Re: Hovenia dulcis
« Reply #18 on: March 21, 2020, 12:10:22 PM »
Would love to give this a try but no germination on seeds for me.
Shane

SeaWalnut

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Re: Hovenia dulcis
« Reply #19 on: April 25, 2020, 03:42:08 AM »
Would love to give this a try but no germination on seeds for me.
You have to keep the seeds in in the fridge for 70- 100 days ,in a plastic bag with somme wet peat .
When you take them out after that and plant them in moist soil, they should germinate.

shaneatwell

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Re: Hovenia dulcis
« Reply #20 on: April 25, 2020, 12:35:15 PM »
I did the stratification but I think I went into sterile media not soil.
Shane