FARM TOUR
HIGHLIGHTS, cont'd
North Central Section
#25 Japanese Persimmon
(Diospyros kaki variety)
The better known Asian variety
with large, dark, oval leaves, its fruit is edible even if slightly
unripe. The wood is so hard it makes good golf clubs. Only one of these
trees remains here, unlike #26 which have re-seeded themselves all
through this area.
#26 American
Persimmon (Diospyros virginiana)
This is a native
American tree with pale green, narrow leaves and smallish fruit, edible
if 'over-ripe' (bletted). Like #25, clusters of bright orange fruit
adorn the tree in fall when the colorful leaves have
dropped.
#27 Hybrid Nightshade
(Solanum hybrid)
A plant the same genus as the potato.
No one knows what Burbank had in mind for this species. It has big
thorns, blue blossoms, large green, fuzzy leaves, and prolifically bears
small, green poisonous fruit.
#28
Hybrid Chinese Hawthorn (Crataegus pinnatifida hybrids)
Burbank hybrids that bear large clusters of edible, scarlet one-inch
fruit in fall--part of experiments to develop hawthorns (related to
apples, pears and plums) as hardy orchard fruits.
#29 Mexican Hawthorn (Crataegus
pubescens)
Hardy, deciduous tree that bears large (1")
yellow, tasty fruit in the fall. More tree-like than #28, both are quite
thorny.