North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Mark Lee" <markl@nytec.com>]

One more note about Sorbus domestica, the fruit of which looks like a cross
between mountain ash and pears.  I selected a handful of fruit that was
flavorful but somewhat astringent.  I cut them in half, removed the seeds,
and popped them into a dehydrator.  They were dried out overnight.  The
resulting dried fruit had much of the fresh fruit essense and tartness of
the fresh ones.  An added bonus is that the process of dehydrating removed
the astringent component of the fruit.  Next year I hope to get a sample of
the fruit earlier in the Fall when the fruit texture is higher quality and
check out whether dehydrating can remove the astringency of these.
-Mark Lee, Seattle z7

-----Original Message-----
From: nafex-admin@lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:nafex-admin@lists.ibiblio.org]On Behalf Of rob hamilton
Sent: Thursday, November 14, 2002 8:57 AM
To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: RE: [NAFEX] sorbus fruit


I was told somewhere that this tree rarely fruits and
as low production. I guees I have been mistaken?


--- Mark Lee <markl@nytec.com> wrote:
> Thank you Hector.  I checked out these trees
> yesterday.  I found the tree
> has now dropped all its fruit.  They average around
> 1" in diameter.  They
> are yellow with a red blush and have the shape of
> mini Seckle pears.  The
> texture was like a pear, still a little astringent
> fresh, but not bad.  The
> Plants For A Future web page describes the ripe
> flavor as "somewhat like a
> luscious tropical fruit".
>
http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Sorbus+domestica&CAN=LATIN
> D
> I would agree.  The flavor was like a sweet tangy
> mixture of pineapple,
> mango and guava with a bit of rosewater thrown in.
> Hey, I sound like I'm
> writing a wine review.
> Thanks also to Lon for first pointing out the
> potential of this fruit.
> -Mark Lee, Seattle  z7
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nafex-admin@lists.ibiblio.org
> [mailto:nafex-admin@lists.ibiblio.org]On Behalf Of
> hector black
> Sent: Friday, November 08, 2002 8:45 PM
> To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
> Subject: Re: [NAFEX] sorbus fruit
>
>
> Hello Mark,
>     There's a sorbus domestica at the Seattle
> arboretum that I try to visit
> whenever I go there.  The fruits are pear shaped and
> of fairly good size.  I
> gathered some when I was there about Oct 8th.
> Tasted quite a bit like pear
> but the hadn't completely bletted so there was still
> some astringency.
>     The tree is away from the larger part of the
> collection, it's very close
> to the gift shop, behind the nursery sales area.
> If you haven't checked it out, you would enjoy it.
> Very large tree.  They
> suffer from fungus and borers here.  But I keep
> trying.
>     Hector  zone 6 middle TN
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Mark Lee <markl@nytec.com>
> To: <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
> Sent: Friday, November 08, 2002 8:38 AM
> Subject: [NAFEX] sorbus fruit
>
>
> > I went exploring at the arboretum in town this
> week.  I have been waiting
> > for the first freeze so I could go sample some
> fruit that I have been
> > reading about.  The common mountain ash, a Sorbus
> species, is considered
> by
> > some to be a weed in Seattle.  The fruit is so
> sour and astringent that I
> > classify it as a "spitter", one taste and you
> can't keep it in your mouth.
> > The Washington Arboretum has one of the largest
> collection of Sorbus, and
> > this provided me with a chance compare fruit
> quality of a number of
> species.
> > Here is a description of two that stood out.  A
> word of caution...   Like
> > apples, the seeds of Sorbus probably contain
> hydrogen cyanide, so the
> ususal
> > precautions should be taken (ie don't make meals
> out of nothing but
> seeds).
> >
> > Sorbus devoniensis (Fontainbleu Service Tree,
> French Hales, Sorb Apple)
> Two
> > colors of fruit were hanging on this tree, orange
> and brown with white
> > speckles.  The orange ones were mealy and
> tasteless.  The brown ones were
> > fully ripe and "bletted".  These had the flavor,
> sweetness and texture of
> > dates.  In England these are collected and
> fermented into an alchoholic
> > drink.
> >
> > Sorbus pallescens  (no common name) Native to
> China.  The tree was young
> and
> > fruit was sparse.  But of the few I sampled, the
> flavor was good.  It was
> > sweet and tart with the flavor and texture of
> apricots.
> >
> > Both of these trees will have a future in my
> edible landscape.
> >
> > -Mark Lee, Seattle z7
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > nafex mailing list
> > nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
> > Most questions can be answered here:
> > http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/nafex
> > File attachments are accepted by this list; please
> do not send binary
> files, plain text ONLY!
> > Message archives are here:
> > https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/nafex
> > To view your user options go to:
> >
>
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/options/nafex/XXXX@XXXX
> (where XXXX@XXXX
> is
> > YOUR email address)
> > NAFEX web site:   http://www.nafex.org/
>
> _______________________________________________
> nafex mailing list
> nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
> Most questions can be answered here:
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/nafex
> File attachments are accepted by this list; please
> do not send binary files,
> plain text ONLY!
> Message archives are here:
> https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/nafex
> To view your user options go to:
>
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/options/nafex/XXXX@XXXX
> (where XXXX@XXXX is
> YOUR email address)
> NAFEX web site:   http://www.nafex.org/
>
> _______________________________________________
> nafex mailing list
> nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
> Most questions can be answered here:
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/nafex
> File attachments are accepted by this list; please
> do not send binary files, plain text ONLY!
> Message archives are here:
> https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/nafex
> To view your user options go to:
>
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/options/nafex/XXXX@XXXX
> (where XXXX@XXXX is
> YOUR email address)
> NAFEX web site:   http://www.nafex.org/


__________________________________________________
Do you Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Web Hosting - Let the expert host your site
http://webhosting.yahoo.com
_______________________________________________
nafex mailing list
nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
Most questions can be answered here:
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/nafex
File attachments are accepted by this list; please do not send binary files,
plain text ONLY!
Message archives are here:
https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/nafex
To view your user options go to:
http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/options/nafex/XXXX@XXXX (where XXXX@XXXX is
YOUR email address)
NAFEX web site:   http://www.nafex.org/