What are these

[Halfdevil333]

Can anybody help? I think they are Damsons?

As you can see they are roundabout the same size as a pound coin.

I know they aren't sloe's cos you can actually eat one without your face turning inside out

Cheers
Scott

 

[hiho]

i've no idea. but theres one right in the middle of a patch of lsoes near me.

 

[BorderReiver]

If there were long, nasty thorns on the tree, they are sloes; no thorns, they are damsons.

The inside out face does rule out the sloe.

 

[wolf_diver]

I had the same id problem and I was reading in a Wild Trees n shrubs book that sloes have mixed with other similar fruit trees and have variants which are similar looking but without the thorns. Blackhorns are easy to see, but some of these other bushes had slightly different leaves and no thorns,plus the fruits where slightly bigger but just as bitter.

 

[Toddy]

Sometimes the surest way to check the fruit is to cut it open. Plums and cherries have one stone, apples and pears and their cultivars have several.

Sloes and damsons are both plum types. There are no poisonous plums in the UK..........in fact I don't think there are any worldwide either, and apples are the same. They might not taste very good, and if you eat too many they'll give you a belly ache as your tummy tries to digest them, but they won't hurt you otherwise.

Those look like damsons to me Scott.
They have a small flattish (almost like an almond) shaped stone in them. The skins can be swersh but the fruit is sweet.
They make a beautiful jam, though it's a skiddle getting all the stones gathered as they seperate out from the fruit in the pot. They make good wine too. If you want to make pies with them you need to take the stones out, and the fruits will stain your hands kind of mucky brown, I wear latex gloves.

atb,
M

 

[wolf_diver]

Just Had a look in The Foragers handbook and I agree with toddy, solves my problem too. Have found the quote at the end of the sloes bit on page 274, it said there are crossbreeds too though.

 

[Toddy]

Some of those crossbreeds are really delicious. Usually very small fruits, but a nice munch

cheers,
Toddy

 

[chickenofthewoods]

I'd personally vote for a Bullace. Look up something like a variety called 'Langley'.

My nana taught me this (so blame her if you disagree). Sloes variable, round or oval less than one inch very thorny, some bushes less so & mouth puckeringly tart. Bullace, one inch or slightly above usually round, sometimes slightly ovate on bushes with a few thorns but generally not thorny, ripens to a reasonable if slightly tart flavour. Damsons one and a half inches, oval, ripens to sweetness, on a bush that is generally thorn-free. I gather from the Brogdale files I've read that the whole family is rather promiscuous so I guess you get crosses too.

Some bullaces are green skinned (confusingly) but the ones I'm referring to are have the blue-bloom on purple/black skin.

 

[ozzy1977]

I would also go for Bullace (well thats what we call them round here)

 

[Toddy]

Your damsons are big ones then
Ours are small, like the pound coin sort of size.
Might just be the wild fruit we're used to though ?

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Toddy]

There are six plum type things commonly found in the UK.


Sloes
Bullaces
Damsons
Greengages
Plums
Cross breeds of any of the above

All are edible, (though some really need cooking first ) but the stones are not.

These are the ones I know from the Clyde valley,

Sloes are the smallest, grow on thorny bushes, need cooking. Start out green and turn purple.

Bullaces (around here) are generally green, some turning reddish when ripe, and some folks call them the gages. Occasionally thorny bushes, known to be whitish sometimes too though. Sweetish,

Damsons are very small plums, very purple. Small trees, no thorns. If very ripe can be eaten raw, otherwise make into jam/ jelly.

Greengages are green or gold/green. They are a desert fruit, lovely to bake with, and if ripe can be eaten fresh. Small tree, no thorns. Larenns. ( I think this is a French word, this is Scotland, it's food, probably )

Plums can be any colour from gold to dark purple with red cultivars too. Very old trees are inclined to be gnarled and interesting looking The Victoria Plums up Clydeside are sweet sweet

Cross breeds some were planted as public trees, I think they were aiming to cut down on the mess from the cherries, the fruits aren't very good, usually small, insipidly bitter.

Right now the trees are full of fruits Enjoy

How about other folks use this order and use their descriptions of the fruits. Surely that would give us a better idea of the individual types across the UK ?
Chickenofthewoods Granny's descriptions are a good way to see things

cheers,
Toddy

p.s. There's a thread on WildaboutBritain on this topic, seems they're as confused as we are
http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/f...s/6759-like-know-more-about-bullace-what.html

 

[Damascus]

They are bullaces lovely to, they don't have to be green as stated, I have a tree a the back of my home and no one ever touches them real gems when ripe, also nice pickled in rum for xmas.

 

[BorderReiver]

The bullaces round our way are yellowy brown. Didn't know that you could get black ones.

They make lovely jam.

 

[chickenofthewoods]

Toddy, I'm in Kent and I suspect that most of the bushes/trees we have here have been deliberately planted into the hedges by the landowner with only the very occasional wilding*. It's not just damsons either, cobnuts, apples, pears and cherries are also common. In fact, one of our elderly neighbours indicated that this was a habit locally when we were discussing a particular patch of hedgerow, a pragmatic approach to gaining a bit of extra cropping space that I heartily approve of!

It would certainly explain the size of the fruits in some cases. We have long stretches of hedges with some very large damsons among them.

* By that I mean occasional escapes from cultivation rather than truly wild.

 

[Toddy]

I think that is such a lovely practice and so eminently practical
Hedgerows full of fruits and nuts.........brilliant

So, Bullaces can be green, yellow brown, reddish or dark plum coloured..........bit like plums really.....anyone got gold ones ?

cheers,
Toddy