Pyracantha on stone

[rich59]

A brief observation. I will often rub down the point of a drill I am experimenting with on a stone surface easily available (the back of a concrete slab). One wood that stood out as performing differently was Pyracantha. With just one rub it would leave a charred mark on the stone.

Would that make it an interesting candidate for a wood on stone fire making project?

 

[match]

Interesting that pyracantha means fire-thorn in Greek - a reference I always assumed was to its vivid red berries that look like flames, but maybe it does have traditions in friction fire methods.

Something else to go on a recce for now...

 

[Scots_Charles_River]

Interesting indeed, my sis-in-law has stacks on hers just now, I have asked her to make some jelly with them. Apparently they taste like apples when jellied.


PYRACANTHA JELLY RECIPE
FROM JERRY M. PARSONS, Ph.D.
Professor and Horticulturist



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Q. I have a beautiful pyracantha in my front yard. It is loaded with berries. I have heard that the pyracantha is related to the apple and that the fruit (berries) is edible. Is this correct?

A. People must be starving - - they want to eat anything and everything that exists! One of the myths about pyracantha is that the berries are poisonous. If you've ever watched the birds feast on a branch of pyracantha berries, perhaps you have wondered if they were indeed poisonous.


The fact is, pyracantha berries are entirely edible and there is at least one recipe I've discovered for pyracantha jelly.


If you have a surplus of pyracantha berries this fall and would just as soon the birds did not rob you of them, you might enjoy the taste of pyracantha jelly. It is quite tasty, much like apple jelly in appearance and flavor.


Here it is for you aspiring cooks:


To extract the juice, boil pound of berries in 3/4 cup of water for one minute. Strain the juice through clean cloth. To one cup juice, add one teaspoon lemon juice and package powdered pectin. Bring it to hard boil; add 3/4 cup sugar and continue rolling boil 1 minutes, stirring constantly. Pour into hot, sterilized jars.

 

[Kerne]

I've got three pyracanthas in my garden - got to give this a try.

 

[Scots_Charles_River]

They certainly produce a lot of berries !

Nick

 

[Cobweb]

That sounds interesting, I'll have to find a bush and under the cover of darkness... do a but of pruning. If it works well, I might even buy one for the garden it looks like a nice plant! If anyone makes this work let us know

 

[Galemys]

Would that make it an interesting candidate for a wood on stone fire making project?

Storm (a former member and extraordinary bushcraft explorer, now sadly deceased) experimented with non-wood friction firestarting:
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8105

Cheers,

Tom

 

[Ivan]

Storm (a former member and extraordinary bushcraft explorer, now sadly deceased) experimented with non-wood friction firestarting:
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8105

Cheers,

Tom

Thanks a heap for that Tom. I found a picture of a stone suspected to be of this use in an anthropology book describing artifacts left by the California Indians. Ed Read and I tested the theory ourselves but failed. We need to try another type of stone. Sorry to hear Storm is gone.

 

[Galemys]

Sorry to hear Storm is gone.

For anyone interested, his website is still running:

http://stoneageskills.com/index.html

Cheers,

Tom