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.
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.
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)?
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?
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 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.
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 (from the pokeweed) which are also poisonous (to humans anyway; birds eat them).
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).
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.
