The Tropical Fruit Forum

UPDATE:

ALL SOLD

Update:

4 - SOLD

1 - Available

There is little information on this species outside of Vietnam. I had to translate quite a lot to learn what I could. The several plants I've sold to this point were to Vietnamese Americans who know what it is but were unable to find it.

The leaves have the same tart flavor profile of loquat pulp but without the sugar. Others who've tasted it unanimously agree. I've not tested cold hardiness below about 34F (1C). I've never allowed them to freeze. They seem perfectly content to grow in suitably sized containers.

Update: Everything is sold at this point, and I apologize if I was unable to fill your request. This was a first come, first serve affair and I expected one or more interested parties to not follow through, but everyone did, and I limited orders to stretch things as far as I could. I have one plant remaining and I may keep this one.

All PMs answered.

I have (13) 5th year Anonidium mannii (junglesop) saplings available. These were germinated in the Fall of 2019. Recent life changes force me to downsize, so this is an opportunity to get a huge head start on cultivating this rare and interesting tropical fruit from the jungles of equatorial Africa. These are presently in tall, narrow tree starting pots and are in need of repotting. They are otherwise growing well despite the constraints.

Price $35 USD each + shipping. I get good rates.
Location: Birmingham, Alabama, USA

Should there in be interest in most of or the entire lot, I may be willing to travel some distance to facilitate the exchange.

This is one of those species that shouldn't be so difficult to find given its popularity, but it is. I have two plants (H. indicus) growing well. I may be able to root cuttings.

Ah yes, I see that now. This is one of several new ethnobotanical species I contributed to the Dave's Garden website.

Now that I see there is some interest in this plant, I will make a serious effort to clone each of my two commercial hybrids and will provide updates. One thing about rarities is it's never a good thing to be the only one growing them.

From Monograph of Kadsura (Schisandraceae), Richard M.K. Saunders; Systemic Botany Monographs, Vol 54 (June, 1998):
"Species of Kadsura are generally described as monoecious, although they often superficially appear to be dioecious. The only study of the sexuality of the genus was conducted by Okada (1971), who found separate monoecious and dioecious plants of K. japonica in natural populations in Japan. This would appear to be similar to the results reported for the related species Schisandra chinensis, which, although monoecious, has the capability to change sex expression over several years of growth (Ueda 1988). Sex expression is known to be flexible in many plants (Schlessman 1988) and to be affected by various hormonal and environmental factors (Meagher, 1988, and references therein)."

I hope that helps to clarify any confusion. This publication is downloadable on the web (free) in pdf format, as is Saunders' monograph for Schisandra.

My wild type plants are in the ground (second photo). Two flowers appeared last season - no fruit. Flowers are unisex, and these flowers were almost certainly staminate. My two hybrids are in containers and are growing well into the canopy of a Japanese maple. I will cut these before bringing them in for the winter. What I will do is root the cuttings over the winter, and make those available to buy in the spring. The seeds of the hybrids are distinctly larger than those of the wild type, as are the fruit. I was only able to obtain a few hybrid seeds because I was acquainted with someone in the trade in Taiwan who sadly, is no longer with us. I have two strong hybrid plants (first photo) and a dozen or so wild type. The only reliable horticultural information I've found I've had to translate from Chinese, but K. coccinea is not difficult to grow. I've had zero losses. I have three strong K. heteroclita plants as well, which produce a greenish fruit, and I have a good hunch that quite a few of the "K. coccinea" seeds that get sold through the web are in fact K. heteroclita.