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What is this tree fruit ?

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Peter May

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What is this tree fruit ?

by Peter May » Sun Nov 03, 2013 7:07 pm

boone-fruit-1.jpg
I am wondering what this fruit is. It is growing on a tall tree with very rough bark in Missouri by Daniel Boones grave.

The top is four pointed hard and almost black.

boone-fruit-2.jpg

The fruit is soft and ripe, has a jelly like flesh and smells of apricot.
This is a windfall. The tree has lost all its leaves but there are still fruits hanging - but they are very high.

boone-fruit-3.jpg


There seems to be one seed inside, bottom right of picture, which is oval very thin and flat.

What is it?
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Frank Deis

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Re: What is this tree fruit ?

by Frank Deis » Sun Nov 03, 2013 7:16 pm

That is a little wild Persimmon. They do grow in the South and are not that uncommon.
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Jon Peterson

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Re: What is this tree fruit ?

by Jon Peterson » Sun Nov 03, 2013 7:19 pm

Frank nailed it, IMO. We have several of these trees in our Maryland back yard.
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Re: What is this tree fruit ?

by Peter May » Sun Nov 03, 2013 7:26 pm

Frank, many thanks!!

Jon, do you do anything with the fruit?
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Re: What is this tree fruit ?

by Jon Peterson » Sun Nov 03, 2013 7:32 pm

Peter May wrote:Jon, do you do anything with the fruit?

After the first hard frost, the fruit of our trees is barely palatable, they are way too astringent to do anything with. In fact, they are the most astringent thing I've ever eaten.
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Re: What is this tree fruit ?

by Frank Deis » Sun Nov 03, 2013 7:48 pm

Ah Jon -- there is some folk wisdom for you. You are right that an unripe persimmon will "turn your mouth inside out!" I was told that endlessly as a child, as there were persimmon trees around. (There is a puckered mouth face that goes along with the saying). But you can pick them and keep them until very soft and eventually they are as sweet in the mouth as they are to the nose. And I think freezing them helps that process. We need to Google this subject...

The Asian persimmons I see in grocery stores here have already gone thru that softening process and should taste about the same as our wild ones will eventually. They are much larger...

PS = THIS covers the subject nicely. When persimmons can be picked without destroying them they are not ripe. They achieve a texture like Jello when they are ripe. Read interesting article pls.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/homestea ... z2jd4je1mj
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Re: What is this tree fruit ?

by Redwinger » Sun Nov 03, 2013 8:00 pm

I'm probably in the minority, but I like persimmon pudding. He is another site that has some general persimmon info and some recipes.
http://www.persimmonpudding.com/
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Re: What is this tree fruit ?

by Thomas » Mon Nov 04, 2013 10:36 am

Jon Peterson wrote: In fact, they are the most astringent thing I've ever eaten.


I would have said the same thing, until after I bit into an olive from a tree.
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Re: What is this tree fruit ?

by Jon Peterson » Mon Nov 04, 2013 5:58 pm

Frank, thank you. Liz and I will try to pick them and keep them until very soft. This was good to hear as it seemed a waste not to use them somehow.
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Re: What is this tree fruit ?

by Frank Deis » Mon Nov 04, 2013 11:53 pm

If you pick them unripe -- use scissors or knife and take some stem along with the fruit.

Everyone seems to agree that they won't really ripen without the stem attached.

Evidently if you have several trees -- they ripen unevenly and you should be able to find ripe ones now, but only a few out of the total number of fruits.
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Re: What is this tree fruit ?

by Mark Lipton » Tue Nov 05, 2013 5:29 pm

We "pick" those wild persimmons by collecting the ones that have fallen off the tree. Jean and Andrew made a persimmon-black walnut bread using black walnuts collected from the tree in our backyard (this year, we got enough rain to give lots of meat). Alas, despite Jean's inclusion of chocolate chips in one version, Andrew still refused to try any. Jean and I had a great tea time treat, though.

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Re: What is this tree fruit ?

by Hoke » Tue Nov 05, 2013 11:30 pm

What everyone said. As a child growing up in the South, every kid sooner or later was dared to eat an unripe persimmon. "Turns your mouth inside out" was how we described it too.

My mother occasionally made persimmon bread and persimmon pudding, kinda like a bread pudding. And I remember an Aunt who used to make a candied persimmon kinda thing as well. Sort of apricot-y, but not quite.
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Re: What is this tree fruit ?

by Neil Courtney » Sun Nov 10, 2013 5:41 pm

The persimmon varieties sold here are non-astringent varieties such as Fuyu or Jiro. The fruit is very firm when ripe and can be eaten like an apple. Very yummy, but a bit expensive usually.

http://www.edible.co.nz/fruits.php?fruitid=52

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