I love some large num nums.
Natal Plum 039 (Medium).jpg
Bet you clicked on this thread thinking something else.
The Natal Plum, also known as the Carissa or the Large Num Num, originally from South Africa grows natively in California, Florida and Texas. Related to toxic oleander and dogbane, it tends to grow well in most conditions (that don't get below freezing). The wikipedia article says Soil Type: Any (as long as it drains), drought tolerant but can handle 1m/yr of rain fall, temps from -5-32oC, etc. It's commonly used as a security hedge because of its large thorns and its pleasing jasmine like smell. In these climates it pretty much blooms and produces fruit nearly year-round. Now why am I bringing it up? Because the fruit is delicious, unlike its cousins the fruit is non-toxic and actually quite tasty albeit fragile. We had some growing in our parking lot for years and I just recently discovered what they were. So we decided to try them and they ended up tasting much better than expected. If you live in one of the above areas keep an eye out for it. It is one of the better tasting "wild" fruits that I have encountered. If picked when the fruit is rich-red the flavor is somewhere between a raspeberry, apple, cranberry and a plum with definite sweet notes.
http://www.eattheweeds.com/natal-plums-num-num/
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Originally Posted by kingcat
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