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Fruticosa
Midway City, CA
February 2, 2010 2:30 AM Post #7520624
| Does anybody know which Podocarpus this is? Or is Podocarpus one of those species with so many cultivars that it's not worth identifying? Or am I mistaken in assuming this is a Podocarpus at all? I've been unable to match this Podocarpus species with any online pics so far.
This tree has been in fruit the last several days in January/winter around San Diego, though I don't recall ever seeing that type of fruit on a Podocarpus before. The fruit is yellowish, about the size of olives except spherical, and comes in clusters. The trees with fruit often appear in the same row as trees without fruit, so maybe the tree has different sexes. I've seen these trees planted in rows along both residential streets and business streets around San Diego and La Mesa in Southern California.
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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Fruticosa
Midway City, CA
February 2, 2010 2:31 AM Post #7520632
| Here's a row of the trees alongside a street, as I mentioned.
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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Fruticosa
Midway City, CA
February 2, 2010 2:33 AM Post #7520638
| Here's a trunk. All the trunks I saw had this scaly appearance, with darker colors showing where some of the scales fell away, though the trees varied in the degree of elongation of the scales. 
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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Fruticosa
Midway City, CA
February 2, 2010 2:34 AM Post #7520641
| Here's the tip of a branch, showing the leaves close up. 
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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Fruticosa
Midway City, CA
February 2, 2010 2:35 AM Post #7520646
| Here's a slightly more distant view of a cluster of fruit.
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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Fruticosa
Midway City, CA
February 2, 2010 2:36 AM Post #7520649
| And a single fruit.
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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Fruticosa
Midway City, CA
February 2, 2010 2:37 AM Post #7520673
| And a medium-distant view of the branches.
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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Darwiniensis
Darwin
Australia
February 2, 2010 4:52 AM Post #7521162
| Probably Podocarpus gracilior syn. Afrocarpus gracilior.
http://www.cuyamaca.edu/oh170/Thumbnail_Pages/Afrocarpus_gra... |
Resin
Northumberland
United Kingdom (Zone 9a)
February 2, 2010 1:18 PM Post #7521727
| Ditto to Afrocarpus gracilior.
Resin
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Fruticosa
Midway City, CA
February 2, 2010 10:19 PM Post #7523424
| Thanks, Darwiniensis and Resin. That must be the one: very close match on those photos.
I tried to find out if the fruit is edible. Apparently most Podocarpus are "edible" but "slightly toxic", which is weird...
Quoting:
The red, purple or bluish fleshy fruit of most species of Podocarpus are edible, raw or cooked into jams or pies, and they have a mucilaginous texture with a slightly sweet flavor. However, the fruit are slightly toxic and should therefore be eaten sparingly, especially when eaten raw.
http://www.answers.com/topic/podocarpus-1
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Resin
Northumberland
United Kingdom (Zone 9a)
February 3, 2010 1:42 AM Post #7524092
| Try tasting one or two. Remember though this is an Afrocarpus, not a Podocarpus (same family, different genus). Unlike Podocarpus where the seed is outside the fleshy part, in Afrocarpus, the seed is enclosed inside the flesh. I've never heard of any of the Podocarpaceae having toxic 'cone' pulp before, but the seeds may be toxic, so don't swallow them.
Would you be able to collect a few? I'd be interested in some if possible ;-)
Here's what some Podocarpus 'cones' look like for comparison:
Podocarpus elatus: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Podocarpus_elatus_con...
Podocarpus macrophyllus: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Podocarpus_macrophyll...
Podocarpus totara: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:PodocarpusTotara.jpg
Resin
Edit: just been looking up a bit; the 'cone' pulp of the closely related Afrocarpus falcatus is edible. So I'd assume A. gracilior is too.
This message was edited Feb 3, 2010 1:47 AM |
Fruticosa
Midway City, CA
February 3, 2010 8:37 PM Post #7526460
| Yes, I'd be happy to ship some fresh California Afrocarpus to you in England. E-mail me here. Until I can find specific info on that particular species, though, I'm going to be afraid to taste the fruit. If you want, you can be the first in this forum to taste them and to report back the results... if you don't need to make a one-way hospital visit first, of course.
Thanks again for your help, and let me know by e-mail the quantity, size, packaging, etc. you want.
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Sofi
Colts Neck, NJ (Zone 7a)
February 3, 2010 11:20 PM Post #7526955
| I see you are a cautious man when it comes to potentially toxic pulp... but not slime. I remember how you boldly tasted a "Southern California gooey dropped fruit" recently.
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leeannconner
Corning, CA (Zone 8a)
February 6, 2010 1:44 AM Post #7534065
| i "think" i collected some of these fruits and cuttings while down in Newport beach and i did taste the fruit.. it is slightly sweet, but mostly its astringent like a persimmon that is not ripe... i can see how it could be cooked down or made into a preserve or jelly. The taste is semi reminiscent of a date, banana and a persimmon all rolled into one. Are the seeds inside bumpy and round? |
Fruticosa
Midway City, CA
February 6, 2010 7:30 PM Post #7535821
| Quoting:I see you are a cautious man when it comes to potentially toxic pulp... but not slime.
It's nice that people remember me on this forum for tasting those slimy manjack fruits, but there's a big difference between repulsive fruit and toxic fruit.
Quoting:Are the seeds inside bumpy and round?
I didn't notice the seeds inside but I'll cut open one of the fruit I saved and report back, probably this afternoon. I did notice a lot of bare seeds without the pulp lying around on the ground underneath the trees, but they looked like olive pits from a distance. I also noticed a lot of new Afrocarpus spouts emerging from the ivy surrounding the tree, so apparently it's a prolific tree.
Below is another pic of a full tree, a Costco store in the background and Rosmarinus officinalis inderneath.
This message was edited Feb 6, 2010 11:31 AM
This message was edited Feb 6, 2010 11:32 AM
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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Resin
Northumberland
United Kingdom (Zone 9a)
February 6, 2010 11:24 PM Post #7536583
| Fruticosa wrote:It's nice that people remember me on this forum for tasting those slimy manjack fruits, but there's a big difference between repulsive fruit and toxic fruit.
Ever tried Decaisnea fargesii? They're edible, but often thought repulsive ;-)
Resin
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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Fruticosa
Midway City, CA
February 7, 2010 3:35 AM Post #7537274
| Resin wrote:
Ever tried Decaisnea fargesii? They're edible, but often thought repulsive ;-)
No, but I'll try anything once if it's edible.
By the way, I cut open one of those Afrocarpus fruit this afternoon. Sure enough, the pits have tiny spike-like protrusions all over them. The fruit actually look pretty tasty, since they get more reddish as the flesh of the fruit approaches the pit, sort of like a peach. But since some genera have a mixture of edible and inedbile/toxic species (Solanum and Ficus come to mind), I want to be 100% sure of any species I'm eating.
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Sofi
Colts Neck, NJ (Zone 7a)
February 7, 2010 3:26 PM Post #7538286
| Quoting:It's nice that people remember me on this forum for tasting those slimy manjack fruits
Actually I remember you for your photos.
I would love to have a reference book that showed all the significant aspects of a plant as well as your pictures always do. |
Resin
Northumberland
United Kingdom (Zone 9a)
February 11, 2010 6:38 PM Post #7551382
| Just tried tasting one of the ones Fruticosa sent me (thanks!!), and it was revolting . . . very astringent, no flavour. But that may just be that they're not fully ripe (as with unripe persimmons), so it isn't a valid test. I'll try again in a few days when they are a bit more dried out.
Resin
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leeannconner
Corning, CA (Zone 8a)
February 19, 2010 4:57 AM Post #7570913
| Wow.. thats great that you got to try it.. I agree, its very astringent, but i bet it is tastey mixed with pectin , sugar and that seed pod.. to make a jelly or paste? Perhaps after cooking it the astringent goes away? im not a Dr.. but i do undestand that Astringent quality is very important to tighten loose veins and can increase cicrulation, helping to adjust the issue of capillary permiability.. spider veins and venous insufficency, a part of aging... tightens skin too.. maybe it would make a good face mask to tighten loose facial skin and address issue of wrinkles.
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Fruticosa
Midway City, CA
February 19, 2010 7:20 PM Post #7572176
| Since this thread is still going I might as well add a couple comments...
Resin wrote:
Ever tried Decaisnea fargesii? They're edible, but often thought repulsive ;-)
Bizarre. The fruit look to me like used, blue condoms draped over tree branches. Yes, they do look repulsive.
Below is a photo of the Afrocarpus gracilior fruit that I cut open. It looked like it was rapidly becoming ripe while sitting in my vehicle for several days.
Click the image for an enlarged view.
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