Explore Plants
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants
Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.
Can't find the answer in our existing FAQs, submit a question to Mr. Smarty Plants.
Need help with plant identification, visit the plant identification page.
rate this answer
Saturday - September 24, 2011
From: Jacksonville, FL
Region: Southeast
Topic: Plant Identification, Edible Plants
Title: Identification of tree with strawberry-like fruit in North Carolina
Answered by: Nan Hampton
QUESTION:
While visiting Boone, North Carolina we walked the Greenway in town. There were a few trees with a round red fruit similar to a strawberry. They were about the size of a penny and a dull red color dotted like a strawberry. However, the inside was a yellowish fruit. I took a small taste of it and it was sweet and delicious. I couldn't find a local person that knew the name of this fruited tree.ANSWER:
From your description I think the most likely candidate for your plant is an introduced tree from the Mediterranean region, western Europe and Ireland, Arbutus unedo (strawberry tree). The USDA Plants Database doesn't show a distribution map but it should be able to survive in North Carolina if it grows in Ireland. The inside of the fruit is yellow and it is edible and reportedly sweet and delicious. Here are more photos and information.
If that doesn't look like your tree, here is another introduced possibility:
Myrica rubra [synonym Morella rubra] (red bayberry), sometimes called Chinese strawberry tree, is a non-native from China, Korea and Japan. Its distribution on the map in the USDA Plants Database shows it occurring only in Georgia, but it might possibly occur in North Carolina. The fruits and seeds of Myrica rubra are edible but the wax on the fruits of some of the species in the genus Myrica has been considered carcinogenic.
Then there are a couple of native species that have similar fruits:
Euonymus americanus (American strawberry-bush) and here are more photos.
Euonymus atropurpureus (Burningbush) and here are more photos.
All parts, including the fruits, of Euonymous spp. are considered poisonous if eaten in large quantities.
From the Image Gallery
More Edible Plants Questions
Use of Ilex sp. by Seminole Indians to make black drink.
August 03, 2009 - Ilex myrtifolia: can the leaves be used as tea? Seminole indians made a black drink reputed to be made of holly leaves.
view the full question and answer
White spots on Hibiscus leaves
August 06, 2008 - My hibiscus trees have white spots or splotches on the leaves. What is it and what can I do to get rid of it?
Also, the birds are eating my tomatoes faster than i can grow them. I've used the owl &...
view the full question and answer
Orange/yellow fungus on a dead oak
October 04, 2009 - I have a large dead oak tree which has an orange/yellow fungus growing at the base and also high on a spot where a branch had broken off. I've read a couple of things from the internet about this fun...
view the full question and answer
Can bastard cabbage be eaten from Austin
May 02, 2013 - On a local cooking show they were talking about cooking local foods and mentioned bastard cabbage but never showed how to cook it or if it was in fact edible. Would be a way to help get rid of it if ...
view the full question and answer
Smarty Plants on edible and medicinal native plants
October 06, 2004 - I would like a list of edible & medicinal native plants for the San Antonio area.
view the full question and answer
 |
Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today. Mr. Smarty Plants wants you to be his Facebook friend. Click the Facebook icon to add yourself to Mr. Smarty Plants list of friends. |
