Apple berry or Kangeroo Apple

[Zen Peddler]

Hey guys

can any one set me up with either a kangeroo apple (solanum lact.) or mountain apple berry seedling(s) or seeds Id be wrapped!!

[hebrew]

we got quite a few at work, its not flowering time or seed time at the moment, not far from fruiting time though, do they take with cuttings? if so i can grab some cuttings

[Amazonian]

I have kangaroo apple flowering at the moment. I will be happy to send you seeds when they develop.( if you still are chasing them )

[Zen Peddler]

which one takes better? or better flavour? thanks

[hebrew]

sorry i meant kangaroo apple, i havent tasted it yet, i will this season though, i like them they are nice plants, but you gotta eat the fruit when it changes from green to orange/red, green isnt good for you ay.

i checked the plants we got at work and they to have flowers on them so i guess fruit wont to far away, usually they fruit in summer

i dont know about the other one or tastes

[Amazonian]

I have not tasted the kangaroo apple fruit. I keep them growing here as they seem to attract a lot of insects. Apparently (depending on your taste buds),they are not crash hot.

Edited October 8, 2010 by Amazonian

[gerbil]

Can't help ya with the plants themselves but,

Be aware that there are at least 5 different highly similar 'kangaroo apple' species in Victoria, and variations within that stock.

S. aviculare and S. lanciniatum commonly listed as kangaroo apple

S. vescum, gunyung

S simile, Oondoroo and

S. linearifolium, Mountain kangaroo apple.

Locations, general soil growing type, flower/fruit characterstics, minor differences in leaf/stem structures (& at certain ages) can help dictate what's what.

Most common 'round melbourne would be differentiating aviculare from laciniatum.

There used to be around three recognised variations of Billardiera scandens, which i think is now down to two, which apparently again are highly similar and ID can be found via flower and leaf characteristics generally, not sure if both occur in vic (would hazard a guess at yes), never done much work with them, but have come across quite a few plants from warrandyte up to the dandenongs. They are pretty dainty, but can be fairly obvious, just gotta get your eye in. I think seed growth can be a bit hit and miss, apparently cuttings are more so the go, but not to say don't try seed. Much easier to find when they are flowering.

[Amazonian]

^ I didn't realize there were that many variations. The ones here look like S. aviculare. ???

[Zen Peddler]

S. lanciniatum I just found in the park near my house. Ill try a cutting. Looks like a strange plant.

[ballzac]

I have what looks like S. aviculare growing in a vacant lot over my fence. I always thought it was a solanum based on its appearance, but didn't know exactly what it was. Then I discovered one at uni that has a label. Reading that they were edible, I bit into a ripe fruit. It had a nice apple kind of smell, but just tasted like random berries, and a little astringent. Due to this, I wasn't sure if it was ripe enough to eat and spat the rest out. I need to look into solasodine (and the ripeness requirement of the fruit) more before trying these again.

[tripsis]

I love Billardiera scandens, at least as a plant, not so much as an eating fruit.

Re. the Solanum aviculare fruit, I thought the skin had to be roasted off to render it edible, or the toxins on the skin would make your mouth blister. At least, that is what I've heard/read that the aborigines did. I've only tried the fruit once; thought it tasted pretty poisonous, so spat it back out. Gorgeous plant though, have one growing in the yard at the moment, seed dispersed by a bird I guess.