Category: Fruit trees

Chrysobalanus icaco: Multi-Colored Fruit Coco-plums are three quarters patriotic: They can be red, white, or blue ( and yellow.) Actually, the “blue” is deep purple …

 Citharexylum bushy: Edible Power The Fiddlewood tree is not high on the list of edibles. As some authors state, only kids eat the fruit, lots …

Wild Ficus: Who Gives An Edible Fig? It’s only 90 miles to the east, and 117 to the west, but the Strangler Fig and Banyan …

Caryota: Fishy Toxic Palms Often the botanical name of a species tells you nothing about the plant. Magnolia comes to mind. It’s a person’s name. …

  Forsythia Foraging For Forsythia If you study the eating habits of North American Indians you learn one thing quite quickly. They weren’t mono-green eaters. …

Geiger Tree, Scarlet Cordia Cordia sebestena: Foraging Geiger Counter Foragers eat the mild fruit of the Geiger Tree and care not about the particulars. Botanists …

Edible Elaeagnus First it was “poisonous.” Then it was “not edible.” Later it was edible but “not worth eating.” Actually, it’s not toxic but tasty, …

Eryngiums: Elizabethan Eryngo Candy Clump coast While the edible versions are not widely distributed in North America, Eryngo (ERR-in-go) was too pretty a name to …

 Showers of Golden Rain Tree Golden Rain Tree Blossoms The scallions didn’t have a chance. My Taiwanese friend liked to grow scallions in a postage …

Hawthorne Fruit The Crataegus Clan: Food & Poison The very first Hawthorn I ever saw — and the only one I knew for quite a …

Cayra coffee, or Hickory Java Hickories are not a migraine, but when you’re learning trees hickories can be a headache. Just as plums and cherries …

Jerusalem Thorn, Parkensonia aculeata Parkinsonia aculeata’s Thorny Past As foragers we are indebted to past writers and at the same time constrained by them. People …

  Jujube Tree fruit   Ziziphus zizyphys: The Misspelled Jujube If you don’t find the Jujube tree, it will find you. The Jujube is covered with …

Jumbie Bean, photo by Donald Simpson Leucaena leucocephala: Food and Fodder Professor Julia Morton, the grand dame of toxic and edible plants in Florida, had …

Juneberries, note “crown” at the end of each berry Amelanchier arborea: Busting Out All Over Juneberries are as American as apple pie. In fact, they …

Butterfly on Lantana camara blossoms. Photo by Green Deane Lantana camara: Much Maligned Nibble Ask anyone who has heard of the Lantana camara and they …

Hornbeam likes to grow near water or damp conditions Carpinus caroliniana: Musclewood British author Ray Mears must have been thinking of the Hornbeam when he …

The inner starch of red mangrove propagules is edible cooked. Photo by Green Deane Mangroves: Marvelous Muck Masters Red Mangrove cigar-like seed pod I did …

Maples: How Sweet It Is It’s amazing what you can do with two trees and a cow: Maple walnut ice cream. It was the prime …

Marlberry, Ardisia escallonioides Ardisias: Berries on the cusp of edible The Ardisias are a confusing family in Florida. Ardisia elliptica There is the native Marlberry  …

Mesquite’s More Than Flavoring: It’s Food If Euell Gibbons was still around he might ask, “have you ever eaten a Mesquite tree?” rather than his …

 Thespesia populnea: Coastal Cuisine One of my uncles had the type of personality that where ever he hung his hat, that was home. The Milo …

Hibiscus tiliaceus: Edible Chameleon It’s difficult to find a hibiscus you don’t like, including the Mahoe. In fact, to this writer’s knowledge all hibiscus are …

Bottle brush blossoms of the M. quinquenveria Melaleuca, Tea Tree, Sweetener, Pharmacy The Melaleuca tree is the most invasive ??weed?? in the state of Florida, …

Albizia julibrissin: Tripinnated Lunch I was drinking “Mimosas” — orange juice and champagne — about 20 years before I discovered the Mimosa tree was edible. …

 Nageia nagi: Forgotten Landscape Edible Nagi Tree, a source of edible oil I discovered the Nagi tree quite by accident, and added another edible to …

Osage Orange  Madura trees: The Edible Inedible Sometimes everybody is almost wrong. If you Google “Osage Orange” or “Madura trees” (mak-LOOR-uh pom-EE-fer-uh) (in 2009) you’ll …

Lippia alba: Oaxaca lemon verbena It all started with a little tour of his back yard. He’s an aging Greek professor and doesn’t like lawn, so …

Lunch Drops In Monkey Puzzle Tree seeds My good friend Saul is a luthier, a man who works with exotic woods. He repairs premium wooden …

Moringa wood is extremely brittle Moringa oleifera ….Monster…. Almost If you have a warm back yard, think twice before you plant a Moringa tree. Is …