Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 6, 1994 TAG: 9401050087
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-6 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Joe Hunnings
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Someone recently asked me to come up with a list of native edible plants that could also be used for landscaping. Here are three of the most promising candidates for this area:
\ AMERICAN ELDERBERRY (Sambucus canadensis): The American Elderberry is a woody shrub ranging from five to 12 feet at maturity. It has white flowers in June or July, and purple-black berries in August to September. This shrub grows best in moist soils, but it will tolerate dry soil.
For culinary use, the unopened flowers can be fried in batter, and the dried flowers can be used to make tea. Dried berries can be used to make pies or combined with crab apples and grapes to make jelly.
Elderberries can be stewed and sweetened to make a sauce, used to make wine (remember the Elton John song several years ago?), or cooked, strained and cooked again with spiced apples to make a fruit soup.
The elderberry shrub is susceptible to borers, cankers, leafspots and powdery mildew.
\ COMMON PAWPAW (Asimina triloba): Pawpaw is a deciduous shrub or small tree between 15 and 20 feet at maturity and hardy from Southwestern Virginia into Northern Florida. Nonshowy purple flowers appear in early to mid-May. Greenish-yellow fruit (actually large berries) turn to a brownish-black and ripen between September and October.
Pawpaws grow best in moist, fertile, deep, slightly-acidic soil in full sun. The shrubs often naturalize in large clumps along stream beds and can be a problem because of their invasive nature.
When the pawpaw fruit is ripe, the taste is a cross between a banana and a pear, but with the texture of a sweet potato. The fruit mostly is eaten raw but can be used for baking and as a pie filling.
The pawpaw shrub has no serious disease or insect problems.
\ COMMON PERSIMMON (Diospyros virginiana): The persimmon is a generally straight-growing deciduous tree reaching anywhere from 35 to 60 feet at maturity. It grows well in this region, but best development has been observed in the bottomlands of the Mississippi River and its tributaries and in coastal river valleys.
Fragrant white flowers appear in late May to early June, with yellow to pale-orange berries ripening between late September and October.
Persimmon trees grow best in moist, well-drained, sandy soil, but also do well in low-fertility soils. They need full sun for optimal fruit development. The fruit can be eaten fresh, but it's very sour when eaten before it ripens. It also can be used to make jelly syrup, custard, cakes, puddings, vinegar and even beer. The leaves can be dried or used fresh to brew tea.
The persimmon tree has no serious problems if it's used as an ornamental.
Joe Hunnings is the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service agent for agriculture in Christiansburg. If you have questions call the Montgomery County extension office at 382-5790.
by CNB