The first photo is of Korean Dogwood.

The first photo is Cornus Kousa Which is edible, the second is Diospyros Kaki Asian Persimmon.

Bass

I tried making some jelly once with Cornus kousa, and it was pretty decent.

Unfortunately, neither of those will grow in Zone 3.

I've eaten the Kousa Dogwood fruit before. The problem is... it's texture... (and I never have problems with texture) It is the grittiest fruit you've ever eaten... with a good amount of seed to match. Too bad because the flavor is actually pretty good. -Glenn

You are correct about that one, Glenn, C. kousa fruit have a lot of the same kind of gritty bits that a bad pear develops.

Hence, why I made jelly -- it's possible to strain out the grit that way.

So I take it that it's a pome and I'm guessing it's a type or variety of quince.

True? False?

Thanks,

False, Mark. Bass nailed 'em. Cornus kousa and Diospyros kaki.

I like the kousa fruits - taste sort of like a pawpaw to me, but as others have mentioned, they have some grit - and varying numbers of stony little seeds. I just 'massage' the fruit, tear out the stem, and suck the pulp out - you DON'T want to eat the 'skin'!
Somebody, in one of these discussions, previously, indicated that they experienced tachycardia(racing heartbeat) when they ate kousa fruits, but I've never noticed it. There is at least one selection, C.kousa "Big Apple" that has been made for fruit size - but I've never knowingly seen it.

LuckyP wrote "Somebody, in one of these discussions, previously, indicated that they experienced tachycardia(racing heartbeat) when they ate kousa fruits, but I've never noticed it. "

Well, I have to (with head hanging in shame) admit that I basically LIVE on Diet Mt. Dew. I suck down probably close to two 2 liters many days. I'm certainly not proud of my addiction, but it gets me through the day (and probably explains why I post on gardenweb.com at lot at 3:30 in the morning).

If I got tachycardia from consumption of C. kousa, how in the blazes would I be able to tell the difference? :-)

Marknmt,
The common name of the plant in the first photo is a dogwood and the second a persimmon.

Thanks Lucky and Creekweb- I should have just googled the dern thing instead of getting caught up in the pictures and descriptions. Afraid I was being very superficial and I appreciate the help.

(blush)

M

Thanks for helping me out!

A couple of pictures of Persimmon trees, I think?... from inside the car on a drive in Bellinzona, beautiful capital city of the canton Ticino, Italian part of of Switzerland, famous of it's 3 castles we visited.

Tree on this hillside road..
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This one on the main street...
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Couple of castles pictures..
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That is the very edge of the range for persimmon. I lived in Switzerland a few years, and most of it is way too cold for (asian) persimmon. The fruit in your picture is, in fact, not fully ripe, with the leaves already off.

3 weeks ago I had asian persimmon in Zone 9, off the tree, they were the best I had ever tried. That is the heart of asian persimmon range, Zone 9. I have had them in Zones 8 through 11, in fact, and I see that they decline in flavor as we get close to the tropics.

It must be fairly mild in that particular location. Note the palms under the one persimmon tree (I suppose they could be in pots, can't tell from the photo, but I am assuming they are in-ground). I think they're European Fans, which I believe are Zone 8.

I don't know but I do see leaves on these trees. When driving around
these were very common and caught my eyes because of the yellow fruit.
Palm trees were also common...
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Very pretty, yet strange to my eye to see the palms in the same shot with deciduous trees in autumn color. I know it's not unusual, I'm sure that happens even in California, and certainly in places like Seattle and Vancouver/Victoria B.C.

But, it doesn't mesh with my perceptions as someone from a cold climate.

I'm pretty sure all of the palms in these two photos are Windmills (Trachycarpus fortuneii). About the most hardy large trunking palm, generally Zone 7.

Thank you for posting such interesting photos.

Persimmons have apparently been grown in Italy for some time, they came over as seed a long time ago and the Italians grow their own varieties not the Japanese/Chinese ones. So it makes sense you found this in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland.

Scott

In a previous post by "no leaves" I meant that the leaves were no longer photosynthesizing. I am surprised that there are italian persimmon varieties. A google search finds nothing, and as a matter of fact the Zone 9 mentioned in the previous post was just north of Rome, Italy, where I was for work and where I have been many times. The persimmons (truly ubiquitous there, one of the few trees that makes it without spray) did not look or taste different from Japanese persimmons.

But clearly Canton Ticino is a lot milder than the rest of Switzerland. Not just persimmons but palms! It is just on the right side of the Alps.

Yes, mostly the south side of the alps, allot of them are spreading naturally in the woods and edges. With global warming they grow fairly high up now, even on the north side of the alps.
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