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| I found these growing in Seattle on the east side of Lake Union,the small body of water that joins Lake Washington and Puget Sound. They are not too common here,from my experience.I think most people plant them as an ornamental,because the fruit's taste is nothing outstanding.This is a little of what Wikipedia reports:The fruit is edible, though many people find it bland and mealy; the name 'unedo' is explained by Pliny the Elder as being derived from unum edo "I eat one",which may seem an apt response to the flavour. To me the flavor is blandly sweet,with a pasty texture and numerous,tiny hard (seeds?).I'd not plant one for the fruit alone.There are much better choices for a space,but they are nice looking plants and one of the few that have ripe fruit this time of year. I picked some and will try to run them through a fruit strainer. Brady
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Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by larry_gene USDA8b-OregonPDX (My Page) on Wed, Nov 26, 14 at 22:52
| You described the flavor and texture very well, I came across some in large planter boxes on the Seattle waterfront nearly 20 years ago near Ivar's Fish Bar. Those were quite sweet. You could probably do anything with these that you could do with persimmons; the texture and flavor are similar. I would be tempted to make a hot, spicy chip dip with them. The plants need very well drained soil, similar to manzanita or madrone. |
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- Posted by tete-a-tete none (My Page) on Wed, Nov 26, 14 at 23:04
| The fruit is rather hopeless, but at least it's not poisonous. It's texture is somewhat gritty but not gritty in an interesting way. I have only eaten one, too. If I were to ever plant an Irish Strawberry tree, or if there was one in my garden in the right place, I would allow it to grow tall. It is a veeeeeery slow grower, and it will only reach tree size if you stay for many, many years, or the person who planted it did so two or three decades earlier. My Mum has one, between her house and the neighbour. I never really looked at it until the day I realised that it was in fact Arbutus unedo, grown very high and very large, right under my nose, during the time that I lived in my parents house. It's a lovely thing. A big, evergreen tree of fairly good behaviour. And I think free of pests and diseases. |
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| If planted where the fruit drops on the sidewalk it is one of the messiest trees imaginable. The public library in Sonoma,Ca has a row along the walk, and a carpeted library. You never saw such a mess from visitors tracking the fruit onto the carpet. It makes a handsome tree planted in the right place. Al |
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| They are pretty common round here and I've never met anyone who's eaten the fruit. The bark is very beautiful, especially in low winter sunlight. |
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- Posted by melikeeatplants 9b (San Jose) (My Page) on Thu, Nov 27, 14 at 16:34
| Apparently they grow select types for the fruit in Portugal. See this thread in another forum about a good tasting seedling in So Cal. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Strawberry Tree
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