Beautiful Fruits

Discussion in 'Plants: Identification' started by waltl, Oct 21, 2014.

  1. waltl

    waltl New Member

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    Hi, I am a newbie. I see this plant all the time in Seattle and I don't know what it is? Are the fruits edible?
    Thanks for your help.
     

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  2. togata57

    togata57 Generous Contributor 10 Years

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    May be Arbutus unedo.

    Welcome to the Forum!
     
  3. waltl

    waltl New Member

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    Thank you so much. I have wondered about this for years.
     
  4. Eric La Fountaine

    Eric La Fountaine Contributor Forums Moderator 10 Years

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  5. waltl

    waltl New Member

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    Thanks!
     
  6. Ron B

    Ron B Paragon of Plants 10 Years

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    Unedo means "I eat one".
     
  7. woodschmoe

    woodschmoe Active Member 10 Years

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    They can be delicious, or nearly pernicious. If not fully ripe, the latter, but the ripe fruit (at it's best) is sweet and flavourful. It might well vary from tree to tree, and I've noticed better tasting fruit in locations where they get a lot of reflected heat (here in the Northwest, at anyways). There's certainly enough sugar in them: fruits that are left on the tree can ferment and become alcoholic. The coat of arms for the city of Madrid depicts a bear on it's hind legs eating the fruit from an arbutus unedo, and it has been suggested that this is not in fact a hungry bear, but a drunken one:

    http://www.letsgo.com/meg-bernhard/2014/6/5/a-drunk-bear-in-puerta-del-sol

    So why not wait another month, let it ferment a little, then give one a try. Live, for a winter's afternoon, like a drunken Spanish bear.
     
  8. togata57

    togata57 Generous Contributor 10 Years

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