Author Topic: Fruit identification  (Read 2119 times)

Weboh

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Fruit identification
« on: January 14, 2019, 11:35:28 AM »
I noticed a couple of fruiting plants in my neighborhood this morning

This one I think is called a Chinese Winterberry. Is it? Is it edible?


The fruit on this one looks kind of like monstera deliciosa, but the leaves look all wrong:

What do you think? Is it edible? Will it taste good and be worth the effort of letting it ripen properly?


This one looks like a strawberry tree. I didn't double-check the picture though, and you can barely see a flower. Is that enough to tell?

Thanks.

Cookie Monster

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Re: Fruit identification
« Reply #1 on: January 14, 2019, 03:48:11 PM »
Top one looks like brazilian pepper. Invasive. Leaves smell like pepper.

Second one is not monstera.

Not sure what we're looking at in the 3rd photo.
Jeff  :-)

Weboh

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Re: Fruit identification
« Reply #2 on: January 14, 2019, 05:13:02 PM »
I just looked up Brazilian pepper on Wikipedia and it looks like the fresh fruit are poisonous unless they're dried. Can someone confirm? What's the proper way to dry them?

The third photo was supposed to a closeup of the not-monstera fruit. Speaking of which, is that fruit edible? It does look kind of like monstera. Though maybe it never ripens to become non-poisonous?
 
I need to retake the last photo, probably.
« Last Edit: January 14, 2019, 05:15:27 PM by Weboh »

Cookie Monster

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Re: Fruit identification
« Reply #3 on: January 14, 2019, 05:20:57 PM »
Yah, stay away from the braz pepper.

Monstera is quite good. It's more like a vine with bigger, prettier looking leaves. Grows very well in shade. A good ground cover if you have space (they can eventually cover a lot of ground). That plant in the picture is a common south florida plant; just not sure what it's called (def not monstera though).

Not sure what the bush in the last pic is. I thought it was carissa at first, but on closer inspection, maybe it's some sort of holly? Definitely not muntingia (what we refer to as strawberry tree down here in broward).
Jeff  :-)

Zpusher

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Re: Fruit identification
« Reply #4 on: January 14, 2019, 05:23:42 PM »
I agree Last photo looks like some sort of holly

Dangermouse01

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Re: Fruit identification
« Reply #5 on: January 14, 2019, 05:28:43 PM »
#2 looks like a type of cycad, seeds are usually poisonous to dogs (probably humans also).
#3 looks like a type of pothos.
#1 kind of looks like B. Pepper, white flowers towards bottom of the picture do not look like B. pepper flowers (B.Pepper here finished flowering late Nov).

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Re: Fruit identification
« Reply #6 on: January 14, 2019, 06:06:58 PM »
Ohh -- OP is referring to the vine on the tree in the 3rd pic.  I don't think I've ever seen monstera climb. It's a ground dweller.
Jeff  :-)

Chandramohan

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Re: Fruit identification
« Reply #7 on: January 15, 2019, 06:50:11 AM »
Monstera do climb! A friend of mine has a Monstera which has climbed up a tree over 40 feet. But the one in the photo is not Monstera.

KarenRei

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Re: Fruit identification
« Reply #8 on: January 15, 2019, 07:51:01 AM »
Monstera do climb! A friend of mine has a Monstera which has climbed up a tree over 40 feet. But the one in the photo is not Monstera.

Agreed, my Monstera tries to climb on everything around my place.  Loves to break things, since it's so strong and heavy  :Þ  they're not the most adept climbers, but they definitely go "up" where they can.

As for cycads (I can't see the picture here to confirm the ID): all parts of them are poisonous.  Even with Cycas revoluta, which is traditionally used to make a type of "sago" flour from the pith (not to be confused with true sago palms), you have to leach the starch carefully to render it edible, and even then it's considered to present a serious health risk.
Já, ég er að rækta suðrænar plöntur á Íslandi. Nei, ég er ekki klikkuð. Jæja, kannski...


pineislander

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Re: Fruit identification
« Reply #10 on: January 15, 2019, 08:02:21 AM »

As for cycads (I can't see the picture here to confirm the ID): all parts of them are poisonous.  Even with Cycas revoluta, which is traditionally used to make a type of "sago" flour from the pith (not to be confused with true sago palms), you have to leach the starch carefully to render it edible, and even then it's considered to present a serious health risk.

Coontie, a native cycad in Florida, was brought to the brink of extinction for harvesting the flour/starch.

http://www.eattheweeds.com/zamia-floridana-making-toxins-edible-2/

roblack

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Re: Fruit identification
« Reply #11 on: January 15, 2019, 09:31:58 AM »
you have to be careful with monterosa too. Takes a long time to ripen, and if eaten too early it feels prickly and irritating to the mouth and mucus membranes. Like needles of glass. Delicious when ripe, no fun when underripe.

Recommend you get plants/fruits/veggies from other members and reputable sellers. Foraging around the neighborhood can be dangerous if you don't know your plants/neighbors extremely well.