North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Tony Adrian <nursingdata@gmail.com>]

We have Trifoliate established as an invasive throughout the woods 
behind us. The flowers are abundant, very pretty, but only lightly 
scented for a citrus. The bees appear to like them. The fruit is 
worthless. The thorns are so large and sharp I had to replace the front 
tires (plural) on my farm tractor with 19 ply jet airplane tires filled 
with foam. Every time I'd try to clip the trails thru the woods, no 
matter how careful I mowed around and attempted to avoid these monsters, 
I always got multiple punctures.

These things are a hazard. If you are mowing and aren't aware it is easy 
to get slapped by a branch as it is pulled loose from another tree or 
shrub. The risk of serious injury is very high. When I say serious 
injury I mean a trip to the emergency room and perhaps some inpatient 
time as well.

If you see them starting in your area I would strongly advise getting 
them out ASAP.

Tony
Opelousas, LA
Zone 8 (right between A & B)
> Trifoliate Orange (Poncirus trifoliata) can grow to a large citrus tree.  The 
> juvenile spines are thin, but on the mature tree they are stout and up to 2.5 
> inches long.  Here it is hardy to 5 degrees.  The fruit is very seedy and the 
> pulp is very tart - with much effort, the fruit can be made into marmalade or 
> lemonade.  They are hard to eradicate once established.
>
> Jim Nottke
> near Winston-Salem, NC   Z7
>
> -----Original Message-----
>   
> > From: Ginda Fisher <list@ginda.us>
> > Sent: Apr 14, 2007 10:25 PM
> > To: nafex@lists.ibiblio.org
> > Subject: [NAFEX] rootstock under meyers lemon
> >
> > My potted meyers lemon has a sprout from below the graft.  It looks 
> > completely different:  the leaf is long and has three leaflets, and the 
> > stem has more, thinner spikes.
> >
> > I plan to remove it, but I'm curious what it might be.  Any guesses?
> >
> > The plant is hardy to about 20F, and the mature bark on the stock looks 
> > just like the mature bark on the lemon.
> > ___
> > Ginda
> > eastern mass. Zone 6