Your 5 rarest, or "coolest" fruit trees?

[Xenon]

1 hour ago, amh said:

My 5 rarest for Texas would be pitangatuba, ginberry(Glycosmis pentaphylla), red jaboticaba, Garcinia Brasiliensis(which unfortunately looks to be dying) and Bunchosia argentea. 

Technically my various Asimina species are rare too for my area, but they are native to Florida, the gulf states and eastern US..

How are your pawpaws doing? Fruiting yet? 

[amh]

1 hour ago, Xenon said:

How are your pawpaws doing? Fruiting yet? 

The pawpaws are doing okay, I lost all but one of my grafted trees to pawpaw sphinx moths. All of the other trees are about 5 ft tall. I have one tree that blooms, but no pollinators yet. 

The 3 year drought has kept everything from thriving, so hopefully the conditions improve this year.

For the record, pawpaws are not deer or caterpillar resistant.

[amh]

2 minutes ago, amh said:

The pawpaws are doing okay, I lost all but one of my grafted trees to pawpaw sphinx moths. All of the other trees are about 5 ft tall. I have one tree that blooms, but no pollinators yet. 

The 3 year drought has kept everything from thriving, so hopefully the conditions improve this year.

For the record, pawpaws are not deer or caterpillar resistant.

I forgot to mention that the 3 asimina species I am currently growing are;  Asimina obovata, Asimina parviflora and Asimina triloba.

I intend to acquire more species, but viable seed is hard to come by.

[Jdash]

wonderful pawpaw collection! where did you find pawpaws for sale?

[Chester B]

6 hours ago, Jdash said:

wonderful pawpaw collection! where did you find pawpaws for sale?

Paw paws are pretty easy to find online.  It's the best way to get name varieties

One Green World in Portland probably has the most varieties for sale.  I will caution if you buy from them they will be pretty small.

[Chester B]

I'm growing Pringles Sapote (Casimiroa pringlei).

[Jdash]

thanks for the heads up, really on the hunt for endemic species of florida

[Silas_Sancona]

25 minutes ago, Jdash said:

thanks for the heads up, really on the hunt for endemic species of florida

Best bet for endemics would be contacting various native nurseries to see who might grow them ..Sweetbay Nursery, in Palmetto is one of the best if you're ever out that way.   Possible there are folks on the Rare Fruit Forum growing them as well..

That or obtaining seed from the wild..

 

[amh]

9 hours ago, Jdash said:

wonderful pawpaw collection! where did you find pawpaws for sale?

 

2 hours ago, Jdash said:

thanks for the heads up, really on the hunt for endemic species of florida

I purchased a few A. triloba from a nursery, but the other species were obtained by ordering seed online.

I will warn you against buying seeds from seed stores since Annonaceae seeds are recalcitrant, so only order from sellers who have mother plants and fresh seed.

Native plant nurseries and some palmtalk members may have what you are searching for.

[amh]

I currently have two red Annona squamosa trees producing fruit.

I will take pictures when the weather permits.

For everyone's  information, deer do not browse my Annona squamosa trees, but they will eat the Asimina genus.

[amh]

Here are two shots of the sugar apples taken in between the rain today. I am hoping that the fruit ripens before winter.

[Ben G.]

On 4/6/2023 at 6:02 PM, amh said:

 

For the record, pawpaws are not deer or caterpillar resistant.

Interesting. I had five small pawpaw's when I lived in NE Oklahoma. I also lived in the woods and had to constantly contend with deer. The deer would strip every leaf they could reach on apple, peach, mulberry, chestnut, or pear trees. They may have nibbled on my jujube or pawpaw's once in five years. (During a drought) They never touched my figs at all.

I knew people only ten miles way from my house who claimed that deer were always eating on their figs. 

Who knows why deer have different tastes in different locations? 🤔

 

[amh]

42 minutes ago, Ben G. said:

Interesting. I had five small pawpaw's when I lived in NE Oklahoma. I also lived in the woods and had to constantly contend with deer. The deer would strip every leaf they could reach on apple, peach, mulberry, chestnut, or pear trees. They may have nibbled on my jujube or pawpaw's once in five years. (During a drought) They never touched my figs at all.

I knew people only ten miles way from my house who claimed that deer were always eating on their figs. 

Who knows why deer have different tastes in different locations? 🤔

 

The deer leave my figs alone, but they will occasionally eat my pawpaws. Right now the biggest killers are caterpillars and grasshoppers, I'll take some pictures tomorrow of the damage.

As I mentioned earlier, the sugar apples are not browsed by deer or eaten by insects, but the leaves produce a very strong odor when touched. 

[amh]

Soon.

 

[amh]

I picked my first ripe sugar apple today. The flavor was good, kind of like a sweet, floral coconut. The trees are growing in shade because they are much too top heavy with fruit, so I had to prop them up on a horizontal growing oak. I plan to germinate as many seeds as possible, but this time, I will prune the seedlings to promote a bushier growth.