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Written by Seven Kings
There is a question that I believe has plagued everyone for a long time: usually we see the red fruit of the bayberry that falls on the road, is it the nephew of the bayberry, can it be eaten?
The fruit of the tree. Image source: wikipedia
This fruit is actually a tree (Broussonetia papyrifera).
However, the tree is a plant of the mulberry family, and the bayberry (Myrica rubra) is a plant of the bayberry family, and the two are not close relatives. However, they also have something in common, that is, they are both native to the mainland.
The tree is so adaptable that it is often used as an urban greening tree, which is why its fruit can be seen in both the north and south of the mainland.
The female flower of the tree. Image source: wikipedia
Trees generally bloom in April-May and bear fruit in June-July. It is difficult for friends who are prone to allergies not to know the existence of the tree, because the amount of pollen of the male tree is really amazing, and it can be damaged by the AOE of the tree at a distance.
The male flower of the tree is the source of all evil. Image source: wikipedia
Of course, "falling powder" is also a major reason for the "falling powder" of trees in foreign countries.
Because of their adaptability and the fact that male trees do not need female trees to clone themselves to achieve diffusion, trees have invaded many countries from Asia, especially Pakistan, Uganda, Ghana, Argentina, and the United States. Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina and other states in the United States have classified trees as invasive species.
Pakistan ranks trees as one of the six worst invasive plants. Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, is the hardest hit area for tree pollen, and many people lie in morgues every spring and summer because of allergies to tree pollen.
Paper is made from framing bark. Image source: wikipedia
However, in the hometown, the tree has a high status, because the ancient papermaking industry on the mainland relies on the tree, and its bark fiber can be used to make paper. Rice paper, that is, painting fairy paper, is used to construct trees.
The vast areas radiating from the mainland to the South Pacific also love trees, because the fibers of trees can also be used to make many daily necessities, such as blankets. In fact, the researchers found that trees were the most widely distributed fiber crops in prehistoric times, and the entire South Island (South Pacific Islands, including Hainan and Indonesia) was occupied by it.
Hawaii's signature blanket, Kapa, is made from tree-building fibers. Image source: wikipedia
So can the fruit of the tree be eaten, is it delicious?
Delicious fruits all look similar. Like bayberry, the fruit is not only edible, but also delicious. But the fate of delicious fruits is also similar, and the tree fruit is also easy to rot, so it is difficult to buy fresh, and if you want to eat fresh, you can only go to the green belt. However, the dried fruit of the tree can be used in medicine, called the fruit of the tree.
Sycamore. Image source: See watermark
Not only can the fruit of the tree be eaten, but its furry leaves can also be eaten. The protein content of the leaves of the framing trees can reach 21%, which is a good feed. But be careful when picking, when the tree is injured, it will emit white pulp, which is very sticky, and the clothes may be ruined when they are stained.
If you play at the Chenshan Botanical Garden in Songjiang, Shanghai, you may find another fruit that is more similar to arbutus.
This is the fruit of a strawberry tree, not a bayberry. Image credit: Weird Fruit Explorer
These fruits, which are actually the fruit of the arbutus unedo, are also edible.
Although there are two words "strawberry" in the name, the strawberry tree has little to do with strawberries and bayberry, it is a plant of the genus Liberry in the rhododendron family, and blueberry and cranberry trees are close relatives.
The flowers and fruits of the strawberry tree. Image source: wikipedia
The strawberry tree is a very old evergreen shrub that appeared before the Pliocene (5.3-2.6 million years ago) and is home in the Mediterranean.
Strawberry trees are very drought tolerant and do not pick on the soil. And because of their good looks, strawberry trees are planted as green plants in areas where the summer is hot and the winter is rainy. The above-mentioned Shanghai Songjiang Chenshan Botanical Garden is found.
The flower of the strawberry tree. Image source: wikipedia
Strawberry trees are a plant with a fire attribute: after a wildfire, they are easily restored. Therefore, in Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain and other countries prone to forest fires, strawberry trees are regarded as important pioneers in forest reconstruction.
The above-mentioned Mediterranean countries are particularly fond of strawberry trees. The national tree of Italy is the strawberry tree, because its green leaves, white flowers and red fruits correspond exactly to the Italian flag. The Madroño in the famous Statue of the Bear and The Strawberry Tree (El Oso y el Madroño) in the center of Madrid, Spain, is the strawberry tree.
Famous bear and strawberry tree statue in the center of Madrid, Spain. Image source: wikimedia
So what exactly does the fruit of a strawberry tree taste like?
The fruit of the strawberry tree is a carb bomb, and when ripe, the sugar content is as high as 42%-52%, which is higher than that of lychees (17%), and these sugars are mainly fructose and glucose, which are theoretically very sweet.
What the inside of the strawberry tree fruit looks like. Image credit: Weird Fruit Explorer
However, people who have tasted it themselves may not immediately fall in love with its taste, because the strawberry tree fruit contains bitter molecules such as tannins, which is a bit bitter to eat, and the taste may be a bit like a fruity black tea without milk? This bitterness is also found in its flowers, so the honey of the strawberry tree also has some bitterness.
Probably because of this inexplicable bitterness, the strawberry tree was given the name of dissuasion: the "unedo" in its scientific name means "only one".
Then again, not many people have actually tasted the fruit of the strawberry tree, because the fruit of the strawberry tree has to be "hung up" on the tree for a whole year before it matures.
Strawberry trees are autumn flowers and autumn fruits, that is, when the strawberry tree fruit ripens just in time for the next year's next flower. Once ripe, the fruit falls to the ground. Because of the high sugar content, the strawberry tree fruit decays quickly, so like the bayberry, there is no way to transport it far away.
The streets of Portland, Oregon, USA, are sprinkled with the fruit of strawberry trees. Image credit: Weird Fruit Explorer
The people who learn about the delicious strawberry trees are mainly the inhabitants of the Mediterranean region. Mediterranean countries had a tradition of eating strawberry tree fruit in ancient Greek times, and strawberry tree fruit is also part of the Mediterranean recipe. If the fruit of the strawberry tree is really difficult to eat, it will not be absorbed by the Mediterranean, a food gathering place.
Portuguese fruity brandy aguardente de medronhos painted with strawberry tree flowers and fruits.
In these places, the fruit of the strawberry tree is made into jam or used to make wine. The Portuguese would make strawberries into a fruity brandy called aguardente de medronhos. Another Portuguese mead, Dom Cristina, is also made with strawberry fruit. Sardinia, Italy, also produces a bitter honey, miele di corbezzolo, which comes from strawberry trees.
Painted with strawberry tree flowers and foliage, honey from Sardinia, Italy, miele di corbezzolo.
If you also want to try the fruit of a strawberry tree, you can grow a strawberry tree variety called Elfin King, which can be used as a potted plant, and the fruit is said to be delicious.
In recent years, the strawberry tree has begun to attract the attention of researchers because it contains many antibacterial and antioxidant components. It has also been found that the caproic acid contained in strawberry trees can make other plants resistant to disease.
In 2010, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) called The Second Report on the State of the World's Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture called on countries to develop the economic and medical value of strawberry trees.
Good looking can also eat, these landscape plants are two meters tall fruit stalls, feel missed a hundred million ah.
Delicious fruits are the same, interesting greenery buy one get one free.
Cover source: wikipedia
Resources:
https://docs.qq.com/doc/DVEhqdUtwclVFYWdR
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