North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Kieran <holycow@frontiernet.net>]

I've gotten another bee in my bonnet.  First I got interested in 
intergenetic crosses to produce hardier citrus.  BIG problems with that 
one, as a few living experts can tell you after nearly 120 years of 
attempts.  The bad taste genes seem closely linked to the hardiness 
genes, though recent crosses may have taken them apart. I refer to US 
119, though it seems there was some inside dirt about that one.  I'd be 
curious how Nafexer's specimans have done over the last couple decades.
    Anyway, the latest bee concerns a couple of native genuses that are 
pretty closely related to Olea and are a lot hardier.  What's more they 
make little fleshy berries that are probably fairly high in oil.  One 
could mess around with Spicebush which already runs 50% oil, and see if 
there's a way to extract it and whether the flavor, phytochemicals, etc 
are of use for humans.  Maybe a supplement, maybe for food.  But the 
neat thing about Fringetree and Swamp privet is that they are 
dioeceous.  Fringetree can be grafted on ash, and I have a dozen 
volunteer seedlings scattered around that could work.  Nobody seems to 
know much about the swamp privet, Forestiera acuminata, or better yet 
the upland version, F. ligustrina/, /which supposedly grows in our 
county/,/ Z6.  On the other hand, Fringetree seems to be good to minus 
30F, and likes acid soils and will grow in our clay.  All I really need 
is a few grafts from female trees (a female growing in town I heard of) 
and then either branches or a small potted tree of a good pollinating 
olive.  I've been looking at olive vars online, Arbequina is probably 
the easiest to get hold of and beg the local nursery to keep in the 
winters for me.  Pendolino is the best long season pollinator, more 
likely I could get it to overlap the Fringetree bloom time.  There are 
no fringetrees around me, so if I got fruit it would be crosses.
    Any notions on this idea?  Anyone familiar with theses plants or 
the fruit thereof?  Even if the fruit is worthless, if graft compatible 
it could make it possible to grow olives in soils with poorer drainage 
or more acid soil.  Osmanthus is also related, but no hardier, though 
some species will take swampy soils.  Since I can't grow them here, they 
are out of the running for me. Donna /
/