Then one day I was researching in Michael Dirr’s “Manual of Woody Landscape Plants” and read this about the fruit of Cornus kousa, the tree we commonly call Kousa Dogwood: “Drupe, pinkish red to red, borne in a ½ to 1” diameter, globose syncarp (resembles a raspberry...) … late August through October; edible but somewhat mealy….”
Dogwood drupes—fruit—“edible”? I apparently wasn’t impressed. I ignored Dirr’s statement. But last year I was sitting on the front porch reading one early-fall evening when I heard a loud “cough” nearby. I looked down the sidewalk and saw two does fighting over kousa drupes that had fallen to the ground. One doe had slammed her head into the other’s side—to warn her off, I imagined.
What was it like? Outside: tough, like studded leather, raspberry-red color. Inside: smooth, yellow-orange flesh with “fresh,” nondescript flavor, but not sweet or juicy. Dirr was pretty much right on: “mealy,” but, I’d add, not offensive, not gritty or seedy.
I don’t think we’ll be lining up to buy kousa fruit at local fruit & veggie stands. The name, kousa drupe, isn’t a great marketing term. Pick a fruit from an apple tree, and you’ve picked an apple. Pick a fruit from a pear tree, and you’ve picked a pear. Pick a fruit from a dogwood tree, and you’ve picked—a dogwood. Makes great sense to me, and it’s definitely two-thumbs up over “globose syncarp.”
So the next time you walk near your kousa, pause, select a ripe dogwood, and sample it. And when you’re happy with this fruitful experiment, you have my permission to spit out the remains, which is what I did when I recently sampled Dogwood Vintage 2010.
But we're optimists, right? When someone asks about our fall gardens, we’ll reply with a smile, “Great. The dogwoods are coming on strong—good color, good size, good flavor too this year.”
We just won’t add, “Just ask the deer.”
interesting. Thanks for sparing me the taste!
ReplyDeleteI wonder what it would be like dried?
ReplyDeleteWendy, the flavor and texture aren't objectionable, just nothing you'd want to blog about or recommend. And Erica, I think a dried dogwood would be one challenging piece of fruit to chew on. I think the canine food equivalent would be a rawhide bone. But then.... :-)
ReplyDeletetry making wine with them?
ReplyDeleteThat thought never crossed my mind, Anonymous. The drupes are so blah I doubt anyone would beat a path to the door of someone who makes wine from them.
ReplyDeleteYou might be amazed! Choke cherries aren't so delicious off the limb, but when the locals make jelly and wine from 'em... It's superb.
DeleteI've also seen locals pick up acorns and eat those, too.
I personally use cactus fruit for my wine and jelly-making.
#AllAboutPerspective :)
just curious is all dogwood edible?
ReplyDeleteor is there a certain type that isn't?
thanks
Chipmunks, squirrels, birds, and many other animals eat the little bits of flesh on American dogwood seeds, but that's not a good indication of safety for humans. The only one good for humans that I've seen is the drupe or seed of the kousa dogwood, which comes from eastern Asia.
ReplyDeleteis there a certain way to tell what kind of dogwood it is?
ReplyDeletecos one of the neighbours has a dogwood tree and compared to the picture above (top) they looked more flat with shorter stems...
I ate one the other day and that tasted disgusting
they are worse than prickly pears no flesh at all only Pips PIPS pips... must not be the right kind...
not sure if i want to try one again... lol
thanks 4 the info
You must identify the tree before you eat the fruit. I can't think of a dogwood variety that has ripe seeds in May. Kousa dogwood seeds ripen in August and are about the size of a dime, as you can see in the blog photo. American dogwood seeds ripen in the fall and are small--and bitter. Perhaps you found one of them. Better leave the next one for your favorite chipmunk.
Deleteok well the 1 that I tasted is (for the amount of flesh) sweetish
ReplyDeleteare you in america or Australia?
Is the american type a tropical variety or not Because if it is then we would not have them around here cos it is pretty COLD!!! (Victoria)
because I have seen plenty of them but not the kind that u are talking about, so what I am thinking is the american variety is not common in Australia.
Yes, I'm in the U.S., so the dogwood you're talking about could well be one I'm not familiar with. No, the American dogwood is hardy and grows all along the east coast and up into New England, where winters are very cold.
ReplyDeletehow long would it take to grow one from seed,
ReplyDeletecos if i can get some seed over here i think i will try growing some if it dont take to long.....
A seedling would grow about 12 inches or so a year, so I suppose it would be 10 years or so before you got significant seeds/fruit.
Deletewow that is very slow...
Deletedont think i will grow any then
do u no how much thier worth as seedlings???
A first-year seedling probably has no commercial value. 4-foot young trees are sold in nurseries for US$30 plus or minus and then take several years before you would like to show them to friends.
DeleteThanks for all that info!!!....
ReplyDeletewow
ReplyDeleteHm I think I would rather something more fast growing.... And that i can eat off some day sooner!!!!!
:-/ thanks for all that info though!!! :-)
Have you ever tried making Wine with them like Anonymous said in 2011??
If you did how did it turn out??
thanks again
No, I haven't tried to make dogwood wine. If Anonymous has, perhaps he/she will post a Comment.
Deletekk
ReplyDeleteHmm.. I think that is all the questions I had in mind!! thanks for all the help/info...
I read in a google post that the flowers are edible. Have you tried them? If so how was that and what part do you discard?
ReplyDeleteThanks,
BBB
Sorry, I haven't tried them. I've not read in kousa literature that flowers are edible, but maybe I haven't read all information available.
ReplyDelete