North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Charles Paradise <machelp@attglobal.net>]

Lucky,
A Korean Dogwood grew at the corner of the house I grew up in, it set 
quarter-size fruit.  I
observed the squirrels feeding on it, eventually tried it myself, and decided 
it was absolutely
delicious.   I might compare its flavor a little to banana, or pawpaw.

I stopped eating it when I found my heart racing and skipping beats after 
eating it.   Has anyone
else ever noticed this effect?   It's a shame because its a high quality easy 
fruit from a care
free tree.
Charlie Paradise
Massachusetts/zone 5

Lucky Pittman wrote:

> Folks,
> After picking up my son from football practice yesterday afternoon, I swung
> by the big Methodist church, down on that end of town, where they've got a
> half-dozen or so nice big Kousa dogwoods planted.  They have heavy fruit
> loads this  year, which are ripening and beginning to drop.  Picked up
> about a half a plastic grocery bag full of fruits.  Tastier and less gritty
> than they have been in years past - perhaps they've been watering a little
> more this summer than in years past.
> I've never really paid much attention to the trees when in bloom, and
> haven't really looked to see if they're grafted specimens or just seedlings
> -  the "Milky Way" strain, is composed of seedlings grown from a group of
> 15-20 select seedlings that were selected years ago for their particularly
> floriferous habit.
> One of the trees seems to produce a significantly larger fruit, and I may
> have to snitch a cutting or two this winter and try my hand at grafting it
> - don't know if it's a "Big Apple", a seedling with larger fruit size, or
> perhaps just has a better microenvironment.
>
> Anyway, they're pretty tasty - and no one I've shared the fruits with today
> at work has turned up their nose, or gone spitting to the garbage can, like
> they often do with the Cornus mas fruits.
>
> Lucky Pittman
> USDA Zone 6
> Hopkinsville, KY