# There are only 3 indigenous fruits in America? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 26, 2005, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-only-3-indigenous-fruits-in-america/286672 "2005-01-26T00:46:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-only-3-indigenous-fruits-in-america/286672/21 "2005-01-26T08:19:20Z")
The Mesquite has “beans” which are edible. Not “tasty”, but still edible. Maybe not a 'fruit" in the classic sense. There are a few other cactus fruits which are edible- beavertail _(Opuntia basilaris_) & Indian-fig (_O. Fiscus-indica_). There is also the Toyon (_Heteromeles arbutifolia_) aka Christmas-berry, or California Holly. The Manzanita also has edible fruit- usually used to make jellies or a drink. Same with the Barberry (_Berberis sp._), the Lemonade berry (_Rhus integrifolia_), & the Sugar bush (_Rhus ovata_). Juniper berries are edible. Better for flavouring, though. The Firethorn bush has berries which are somewhat edible- but more often for preserves, not eating “as is”. ( I think it’s native, I know it’s now widespread) Those are just in California. I am not sure if the Wild Rose is native. Nor the Hawthorn. I know the Tamarind grows wild in Central & South America- not sure if it is native, either. So Unwrapped is completely wrong. However, if they said there were only 3 native fruits which are commercially successful, they might have a point. There are certainly less than a half-dozen anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-only-3-indigenous-fruits-in-america/286672/22 "2005-01-26T08:32:04Z")
Pretty sure there are a number of species and allies of _Ribes_(gooseberries & currants) that originate in America. ---
**Author:** ![Squee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ba9def/32.png) [@Squee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squee)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-only-3-indigenous-fruits-in-america/286672/23 "2005-01-26T10:22:54Z")
> [@](#): > > Goddamn is this a good question! Apparently, the grapefruit is a new fruit and originated in Jamaica. I think that would make it the only non-Asian citrus, no? Bumping this up since I would also love to hear an answer to this, if anyone has any information. Thanks for posting it **manhattan**! ---
**Author:** ![altiod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c6cbf5/32.png) [@altiod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/altiod)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-only-3-indigenous-fruits-in-america/286672/24 "2005-01-26T13:06:30Z")
> [@Squee](#): > > Bumping this up since I would also love to hear an answer to this, if anyone has any information. Thanks for posting it **manhattan**! Afraid I can’t give you an academic answer but you can’t find grapefruits here in Thailand, we have pomellos which are similar but a bit blander but not bitter. It is also rare if not impossible to find lemons. (and they are really expensive if you do fing them, imported…) Limes are served with almost any dish though and for some reason everybody calls them lemons in English. There are about five varieties of oranges to pick from at nearly any produce section, but never navel oranges. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-only-3-indigenous-fruits-in-america/286672/25 "2005-01-26T13:19:42Z")
[Grapefruit history](http://www.vegparadise.com/highestperch63.html) > [@](#): > > The grapefruit, not even 300 years old, is just a kid in the world of fruits. The offspring of the pummelo, sometimes spelled pomelo and even known as shaddock, the grapefruit may have appeared as a horticultural accident during the 1700s in Jamaica. The grapefruit might never have made a debut at all if it hadn’t been for Captain Shaddock, a 17th century English ship commander who brought seeds of the pummelo from the East Indies and delivered them to the West Indies in 1693. So the grapefruit is a New World Mutant rather than a New World Native. Pummelo’s are hard to find, but getting more common in the states. Sometimes you can get them as large as basketballs. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-only-3-indigenous-fruits-in-america/286672/26 "2005-01-26T13:27:16Z")
How about the watermelon? Isn’t that native? ---
**Author:** ![Popup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/94ad74/32.png) [@Popup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Popup)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-only-3-indigenous-fruits-in-america/286672/27 "2005-01-26T13:40:57Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > How about the watermelon? Isn’t that native? Not according to the [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watermelon): > [@](#): > > Watermelon (Citrullus vulgaris; Family Cucurbitaceae) is the fruit and plant of a vine-like (climber and trailer) herb originally from southern Africa. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-only-3-indigenous-fruits-in-america/286672/28 "2005-01-26T13:52:52Z")
What’s up with mulberries? Mulberry trees are pretty common here (and I’ve learned it’s best not to park under one). But then there’s that old (English?) nursery rhyme: “Here we go 'round the mulberry bush”—do European mulberries grow on bushes? If so, are they even the same thing as the mulberries I know, or are they different species with the same name (kinda like the European vs. the American robin)? ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-only-3-indigenous-fruits-in-america/286672/29 "2005-01-26T13:59:39Z")
Darn it, **Thudlow** , I was gonna be the first to suggest mulberries! Um, what about Hawaiian fruits - pineapple and coconut? ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-only-3-indigenous-fruits-in-america/286672/30 "2005-01-26T14:01:38Z")
**Doobieous** - you’ve got cherimoya, paw-paw and custard apple listed as three separate fruits - aren’t they all the same fruit? ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-only-3-indigenous-fruits-in-america/286672/31 "2005-01-26T14:16:00Z")
I’ve wondered about this for awhile, actually, especially with the fruits that I like to gather every summer–wild strawberries, blackberries, and blueberries, with the occasional surprise black raspberry patch thrown in for good measure. Are blackberries definitely native, then? Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-only-3-indigenous-fruits-in-america/286672/32 "2005-01-26T14:58:08Z")
Not to make this into an ad hominem (ad showinem?) but _Unwrapped_ doesn’t do anything that really qualifies as “research.” More than once they’d passed on “amazing facts” that were timeworn myths—though to be fair they have also debunked some common urban legends—and it seems that they will uncritically present anything that their food-industry subjects offer as fact, both in footage of the interviewees and in the voiceover by the host. The most egregious example was their tour of the [PentaWater](http://www.pentawater.com) factory. :rolleyes: I guess it’s not surprising that they did not challenge any of the health claims made by the company representative. It’s obviously not that kind of a show, but I was annoyed all the same. Unwrapped : Good Eats :: Larry King Live : Mythbusters. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-only-3-indigenous-fruits-in-america/286672/33 "2005-01-26T15:19:07Z")
We have at least two species of native grapes: the **muscatine** (a dark grape) and the **scuppernong** (a white grape). ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-only-3-indigenous-fruits-in-america/286672/34 "2005-01-26T15:29:20Z")
Correction: After further research, it looks like the **muscatine/muscadine** and the **scuppernong** are different varieties of one species of grape. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-only-3-indigenous-fruits-in-america/286672/35 "2005-01-26T15:47:32Z")
Are we counting only edible fruit? Because several species of nightshade produce poisonous fruit. Jimsonweed, for example (which, interestingly, is a corruption of “Jamestown weed,” the weed first having been observed by Europeans at the Jamestown colony). And then we have [poke berries](http://2bnthewild.com/plants/H171.htm) (from the pokeweed) which are also poisonous (to humans anyway; birds eat them). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/74df32/32.png) [@The\_Devil\_s\_Grandmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Devil_s_Grandmother)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-only-3-indigenous-fruits-in-america/286672/36 "2005-01-26T16:45:15Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > Are blackberries definitely native, then? Yes, a quick google search says they are native to the whole damn planet. I know they are referred to as brambles in English renaissance cookbooks (Sir Kenelme Digbie’s \*Closet Opened \* is the best example that comes to mind). ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-only-3-indigenous-fruits-in-america/286672/37 "2005-01-26T16:47:56Z")
> [@Thudlow Boink](#): > > What’s up with mulberries? For what it’s worth, wikipedia says: “The fruit of the Black Mulberry, native to southwest Asia, and the Red Mulberry, native to eastern North America, have the best flavour.” By the way, silkworms only eat mulberry leaves so they’re pretty common in China and Japan. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-only-3-indigenous-fruits-in-america/286672/38 "2005-01-26T17:03:34Z")
Another fruit not yet mentioned: [passionfruit](http://www.rain-tree.com/passionf.htm). Though the linked site describes them as being native to South America, I am familiar with at least one variety that grows wild here in Georgia. We also have wild **dewberries** here. Related to, but distinct from the blackberry. The [wild strawberry](http://www.fcps.k12.va.us/StratfordLandingES/Ecology/Plants/wild%20strawberry/Fragaria_virginiana_plant.jpg) and the huckleberry (previously mentioned) are native here as well. ---
**Author:** ![Gaudere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e495f1/32.png) [@Gaudere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gaudere)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-only-3-indigenous-fruits-in-america/286672/39 "2005-01-26T17:27:42Z")
[Mayapples](http://2bnthewild.com/plants/H29.htm) ---
**Author:** ![yBeayf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/e274bd/32.png) [@yBeayf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yBeayf)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2005, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-only-3-indigenous-fruits-in-america/286672/40 "2005-01-26T18:28:03Z")
> [@](#): > > Doobieous - you’ve got cherimoya, paw-paw and custard apple listed as three separate fruits - aren’t they all the same fruit? Nope – they’re all separate fruits, albeit very closely related and similar in taste and texture. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-only-3-indigenous-fruits-in-america/286672.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-are-only-3-indigenous-fruits-in-america/286672.md?page=3)