Conkerberry (Carissa spinarum)

I acquired this Conkerberry (Carissa spinarum) as a rooted cutting about a dozen years ago from TARS Mayaguez. Here it is in full bloom (the little white dots in the photo).

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Hmmmm. Parts of the description include being a tangled, thorny mass of a bush, and fruits poisonous until ripe. Not exactly appropriate landscaping for a playground, but might work in conjunction with pyracantha in a hedgerow to keep wandering dogs away and as a dissuasion to browsing deer.

… provided you plant it in USDA zone 10 or higher. :smiley:

There’s always a catch! :smile:

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Certainly in my ecology – although in tropical east Africa they grow into trees. I control the size and shape of mine by thinning.

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Hi Richard, could you tell me how you went about getting the rooted tree cutting? Do you still have the tree … Anyway I can get a cutting from the tree? Is the fruit quality good? Thanks.

It is a shrub, although in some tropical locations a it’s a 10 meter high shrub!

I had (still have) a nursery stock license, an established investigator ID with ARS, and an excellent history of introducing plants to the nursery trade from ARS repositories. So I filled out an application requesting the plant material and to my surprise they sent rooting cuttings.

You are welcome to make arrangements visit and collect some cuttings. If you don’t have propagation setup then the Spring would be the best choice. I do not ship plant material.

The summer crop is good - provided you get it before the finches! It is cropping 3 times per year here and the off-season crops lack flavor.

I was re-reading this thread, and reminded that Kei Apple might work in your climate – and provide a far more robust fortress.

Thanks for re so promptly… I presume u are based in Puerto Rico? I’m on the mainland USA - I don’t think they will allow me to import the cutting :frowning: thanks.

No. Check my profile: http://growingfruit.org/users/richard/

Oh thanks! I will definitely get in touch with you before spring.

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In full bloom!

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Taming the beast!

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Spring blossoms.

6/10. This Spring the plant has been growing about 2 feet a week with new shoots of 1/2" diameter. I thought about pruning it into a tall Savannah tree with a wide flat-top canopy but decided against it due to the number of fruit trees it would shade. So today I removed it and treated the cut portion of the stump with Triclopyr.