Help me identify this fruit!

[aquaeri]

It comes from a tree, about 5m tall, growing off the riverpath. That means it could be anything ranging from an Australian rainforest native to an escaped garden ornamental. I can't offhand remember any fruit that have a ring of seeds around a centre with more seeds. The fruit has a distinctive smell when you cut it open, similar to cucumber or

Comments

[te_hazazel]

Ooh... mysterious! :) I don't know what it could be... how big are they?
Let us know if you figure it out!

[aquaeri]

They're about 3cm across. I think I'll poke my dad, he's good at this sort of thing.

[pyrzqxgl]

At first glance I had imagined them as being apple sized and thought they looked quite tasty. But I have no idea what they would be regardless of size.

[aquaeri]

Yes, they're actually quite inviting in terms of being juicy and the flesh very fruity, and the smell is similar, but does have that astringent note. I have to figure out how to take photos that show scale - I know when I take photos of plants I want to get close (to catch all the details) but it makes it hard to get a sense of how big things are.

[aquaeri]

The thorns are right, but neither the leaves nor the fruit are citrusy enough - my parents have a kumquat so I have a pretty good idea about both.

[aquaeri]

I've got him interested, and he has several useful books - one on Australian edible natives, and others are danish botany texts, for learning to classify plants and such. I expect he'll find something somewhere :-).

[eub]

From wandering around the Rutaceae, my best incorrect guess is a Casimiroa. The fruit looks *something* like white sapote, but its seeds aren't nearly big enough (does your specimen seem to be ripe?), and the leaves are wrong, and I can't find that they have thorns.

[aquaeri]

I think these are nearly ripe - I picked them off the tree (to be sure I had the right tree and leaves) and they are just a bit greener than the ones on the path that caught my attention in the first place. My dad is very interested in the leaves, so I might go and try to take some photos in loco. It depends a bit on the weather, as we have very bright sun at the moment which makes photography in dappled shade hopeless for anything other than arty black and white shots.

plant ident

[pir_anha]

oh, i've seen those! in california, and i even remember coming home and trying to hunt for the name, but all i now remember is that the plant originates in south africa. they were using it as a very mean hedge in california; those thorns are serious business.

ok, where is my CD with the california pictures... apple yellow fruit thorns obovate leaves should find it...

actually, that finds it in google, 4th and 5th entry. umkokolo or kei-apple (dovyalis caffra).

i'd feel free to taste it (it's a very clear ident) -- it'll likely be tart. good for jams and jellies, it says.

Re: plant ident

[aquaeri]

I'm reassured you made the same ident I did (see my next entry), and also that even if I hadn't spent most of yesterday trying to figure out what it was, I would have found out :-).

My absolute favourite web page about them so far (hoping that google books is good to me) is here. Particularly because it gives me basis for a lovely historical story as to how that plant got there.