It was heart shaped. I searched a bit. The only picture that I found to correspond would be this one:
http://mcchens.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/2013-7-29-Spring-Summer-Fruits-08.jpg

I have currently successfully germinated Litchi seeds of an unknown cultivar and like o get more information on this cultivar (unfortunately I have no pictures)
I got it from a chinese shop.
I have eaten and grown Litchis before various times, but never this kind of Litchi.
First of all it was very big, bigger than an ordinary Rambutan. Perhaps the size of a medium-big Apricot. The skin was not hard but very soft with a nice pink colour.
Flesh was milky white, very sof (softer than normal Litchi).
Seed to flesh ratio was also favourable. The seed is perhaps twise that of a normal Litchi, but the size of the fruit is much biger. Fith only 3 fruits I was full, as they were very sweet.
Except their sweetness they had a very nice parfum like taste, I would say better than normal small Litchis.
I am not a specialist at all, but as I know the genus Litchi includes only one species. So it must be some special cultivar. can anybody help with information?

Fruit was from Thailand said the shop owner!

To me also both look like Passifloras! Why do You think they aren'T Passifloras?
Flowers would help!

There are various edible Lycium species!
But tke care -out of their natural range Lycium easily turns a weed!
It is really easy to grow them. Had never problems and many are tolerant to dry conditions and even to salt.
However be carefull!
I think Goji is nice, but to exagerated concerning this plant. There are many plants with health benefits and good quality fruits that aren'tused so much. For example Nitrariceae.
In similar conditions some Ephedras bear good tasting "fruit"

Taparyal,
Your English is just fine.
Thanks for the information.

Any taste difference between the two, if you know?

I havn't heard about any taste difference, neither did I taste it myself. But I heard best oppinions about this plant.
 I know it from a book for children about cucurbitaceae ( sounds strange - but it was my favourite book when I was 3-4 years old).
I suppose there won't be too many differences between the two in taste.
But there is not many literature available on this plant - and therefore could be intresting to get both species.

Hodgsonia seems not to have any other closer relative in its subtribe (Hodgsoniinae), but is included in the same tribe with Trichosanthes, a known vegetable in culture called snake-cucumber or snake-gourd. However I don't know if this way of classification is still in use. I read this from wiki. And maybe changes have been done to the classification of Hodgsonia.

The problem at start may be to use hand pollination to secure more seeds. I read Hodgsonia opens its flowers for one day only. So obviously it would make sense in the begining produce as much seeds as possible to have a secure  number os plants.
It is a great plant - both for its use and also ornamental (look the beautiful leafs and flowers).

In the 1960-1970ies there was movement to introduce tis plant in cultivation in China - don't know if they created any varieteis. But seems that later it has been forgotten.

Cucurbitaceae have many unknown plants with intresting potential. Immagine the difference between a small and bitter wild watermelon and a red  big sweet watermelon. Same way there are many other still unknown species intresting to breed.


By the way in india there is a big and intresting variety of cucurbitaceae. I like a lot Praecitrullus fistulosus (hope once seeds of this plant will also be available), a very nice vegetable.

Dear Digpati!
I got some confusion concerning the distribution of the species and classification.
I always thought there are 2 species: Hodgsonia macrocarpa and Hodgsonia heteroclita. But about their distribution i didn't really understand.
As I understood before all Hodgsonias were considered one species, but then H.heteroclita was separated from H.macrocarpa (different leaf and fruit form).
H.heteroclita is reported from China and Northeast India. But for H.macrocarpa I ot confuced, because some refer to H.macrocarpa as single Hodgsonia species while others seem to write that H.macrocarpa is found more south (Maleysia, Indonesia...). Have you got any better information?

This plant is really a great plant of the cucurbitaceae, I know it from a child-book on Cucurbitaceae that my grandmother was reading for me.
On the main picture there was a Hodgsonia climbing on a tree and a monkey cutting off its fruits.
Except being a usefull plant it is very beautyfull.
I also fund out that it is in symbiosis with ants:
https://lilac.uni-hohenheim.de/de/publikationen/2007_Schreiter.pdf

Really a very intresting plant! Can't wait to grow it

Strychnine itself is very interesting and in minute amounts is a powerful mental stimulant! There was a case study I read that was written by a medical student and was many years ago. This guy was taking strychnine in order to stay awake for many nights and study. It was working very well but the margin of error is quite small and he misjudged the dose too high one time and went into convulsions, luckily being in medicine he had things to counter the over stimulation and poison otherwise he would have died! Literature talks of people using seeds as a purgative maybe that is from strychnine and related alkaloids? But in other sources it talks of eating the seed like a sweet?I wouldn't want a strychnine sweet! I was most interested in pungens because I read that it had very low to no levels of strychnine in it. I wonder if there is any way a grower could test levels of the alkaloid with some kind of home test. Lower levels would be something to look for when breeding:)but I would be worried about accidently getting high levels if cross breeding.

Problem may be that alcaloid content varies much based on location. So it will be maybe not the easiest breeding. Alkaloid are quiet specific substances - so i don't think that there is a home test for strychnine, but to find it in the lab shouldn't be difficult at all.
What is intresting, that many strychnos species contain ti other parts of the plant (roots, bark...) more complex alkaloids with medical use ( like toxiferins, curarins....) - that are usable as muscle relaxing agents.
I think many properties of these substances are unknown because there is a variety of alkalouds in Strychnos species.
I know that Strychnos potatorum seeds are used to clarify water.

Quote from: Taparyal on June 19, 2014, 08:55:56 AM

Two other African Strychnos that seem to bear edible fruit:
Strychnos mitis
http://www.prota4u.org/protav8.asp?g=psk&p=Strychnos+mitis+S.Moore


Strychnos decussata
http://apps.kew.org/efloras/namedetail.do?flora=fz&taxon=5557&nameid=13916

Hi Taparyal,

If I were you I'll stick with either  Strychnos cocculoides, S. spinosa or S. pungens. These three species are the best if you are looking for edible fruit.

Mohd

Well - I generally have interest for all Strychnos - also poisonous ones. But I am sure there are some unknown tasty Strychnos. Look at the link on the Strychnos from Ecuador - the man who found it described its taste as very pleasant between orange and cacao-cream. Like that many unknown and rare plants could have at least a save future - if there will be interest from peoples side to conserve them. In this sense every edible Strychnos species could be intresting - also for possible hybridization and also for the intresting active compounds of the genus Strychnos

For example a german man on an other forum asked to identify a Strychnos from Ecuador that he describes having tasted quite qood.
I am now not a Strychnos expert unfortunately, and lack the literature to identify the plenty of South American Strychnos. But seems like edible Strychnos aren't an exception:
http://green-24.de/forum/wer-kennt-diese-65-pflanze-von-ecuador-26gt-strychnos-sp-t67651.html

What seems remarkable for African Strychnos is the fruit size, don't know if there are other Strychnos that reach similar sizes.

Africa is  really really great for edible Strychnos species.
However I read that some south American Strychnos are edible and good tasting too.
Landolphia is also very intresting (unfortunately I failed to grow it in a first attempt).
I have never tried any of these fruits - but seems from the form that Strychnos should be easily shippable, and so also a good fruit for trade.
The only problem may be seed toxicity.

Quote from: Taparyal on June 17, 2014, 09:47:51 AM

Quote from: stuartdaly88 on June 17, 2014, 09:33:10 AM

Where can you purchase 80% ethanol?
I only know where to get isopropanol

There are many sources on the web, but specific solutions are expensive. It is better to by drinkin alcohol (that has arround 90-95%) and dilute it to 80 % v/v.

I don't know if the 80% is so important? otherwise you may take surgical solutions with arround 70%.

Hmmm they dont really sell that high proof here most i can get is >48% or stroh rum is 80% but very dark it cant be very pure!
maybe farm made pineapple  mampoer(moonshine) not rated but at least as strong as Stroh rum and clear but not sure if that matters though.
So does surgical spirits contain ethanol?

Yes - surgical spirit is 70% ethanol (rest is water)
In Pharmacy You may get also 90-95 % ethanol spirit (rest is water).
Stroh Rum is full of sugars and additives so maybe to avoid.
Actually there is also technical alcohol (94-98% of ethanol) that has additives that make it not usable for food purposes (bad taste).
These additives are mainly in low percentuages, but I don't know if they have effects on seeds