On Tue, 15 Apr 2003 17:06:20 +0100, "Sue & Bob Hobden"
wrote:


"Roger wrote in message
. They are very much alike (just some difference in the leaves).
I just grew them all in the hope that cross-pollination would produce
more fruits.
But no luck - with me, fruits come only in very warm years.

Are the fruits edible or something then?

I've not seen one get but they are purported to be like dark
sausages.

From PFAF:

Fruit - raw[2, 105, 177]. Sweet but insipid[3]. The fruit has a
delicate flavour and a soft, juicy texture[K]. Lemon juice is
sometimes added to the fruit to enhance the flavour[183]. The bitter
skin of the fruit is fried and eaten[183]. The fruit is 5 - 10cm long
and up to 4m wide[200, 266].
Soft young shoots are used in salads or pickled[183].
The leaves are used as a tea substitute[105, 177, 183].

Also:
Plants are probably self-sterile[11, 182], if possible at least 2
plants should be grown, each from a different source.

(Those numbers in brackets refer to the publications which PFAF have
referenced).

They are so easy to propagate vegetatively but because of the
advice above, I recently got from another source an additional A.
quinata. Funny though. I don't know whether it's because it's
pubescent, but the leaves on the new one are not quinate bit trilobe
(is that a word?). Perhaps they inadvertently sent me one of the other
species.

Huss
Grow a little garden

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