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Looking for edible wild florida cherries

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D-Grower:
Looking for wild cherries that are edible yhat grow here in the panhandle.  Tried seeds from elsewhere and the seedlings hated it here. As long as they are edible im cool with whatever varieties.  Tried transplanting seedlings from a friends property. All died. He no longer lives there so I cannot try again when they go dormant.  Thanks for any help!

DG

Citradia:
What is the species name of the cherry you are talking about? The American Black Cherry which is a huge tree with tiny black fruit may live in the FL panhandle but it’s not considered good fruit for human consumption. I lived in Gainesville 22 years ago and there was no actual cherry that could live there. Not cold enough in winter. I moved to NC so I could grow cherry and apple trees etc. Do you mean Chickasaw plum ie prunus angustifolia? I always thought they were more like a cherry than a plum. I made a tart jam out of them once. Beautiful tree.
There is a Surinam cherry and a Barbados cherry that I used to grow just south of Tampa, but they are tropical and not true cherries and probably too cold for them in the panhandle.
I did grow Okame cherry in Gainesville and it was a true cherry with nice pink flowers in spring, but not a fruiting variety.

D-Grower:
There definitely is wild true cherries here. Probably Prunus serotina or viriginiana. I do have chickasaw plums on my properties already.  There is whatever true wild cherries around but I see them up in peoples yards and such and cant access them without maybe getting in trouble. Maybe one day I'll see a tree in fruit I can get to. As far as I know the wild cherries are edible but maybe not the most tasteful.  There's medicinal value I would want available on my land as well as almost anything cooked and sweetened like a jam etc would be good enough. 

Galatians522:
You are right Prunus serotina grows in your area. Actually, I have seen many trees here in Highlands County. I think this is the southern end of its natural range, though. However, I believe that has more to do with soil than chill because I have seen some trees fruit with less than 50hrs of chill here. There was a nice fruiting tree in the neighbor's yard, but it was cut down when new people moved in. Fortunately, a seedling sprung up in the fence row but it has not fruited yet. At one point, the University of Florida made hybrids with the closely related Capulin, but I don't know what became of them. Apparently the Capulin didn't thrive in Florida.

While Okame does not produce fruit, the Taiwan Cherry (Prunus campanulata) does, and is apparently very popular for its pink blooms in your area. People rairly see the fruit, though, because birds like it so much. It is more closely related to sweet cherries than Black Cherry and I read once that it makes good jam. I have not been able to find that link again, though. It might be worth looking in to.

Rispa:
Did you find some OP?

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