Catalina Cherry-nut

Here’s my Catalina Cherry-nut (Prunus ilicifolia) sporting 1,000’s of flower buds.

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Flowers remind me of cherry laurel. Is it edible?

Yes. I’m not familiar with Cherry Laural (Prunus laurocerasus) but I see it is in the same section of Prunus as Hollyleaf Cherry.

The flavor is good when cultivated with care. The fruit in the wild is no better than wild cherry plums.

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I agree. It looks like my 20 year old Cherry Laurel. Pretty shrub. The flowers smell like incense from India.

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Do you know how old your tree is? I planted one recently and am trying to get an idea of how quickly they grow. Online estimates vary considerably.

… probably because horticultural practices vary considerably too.

I bought this plant as a seedling in a 4x4x10" starter pot in about 2010. I transplanted it to a 5 gallon pot in 2011 and then to a 15 gallon in 2013. In 2015 I finally got it into the ground. I don’t recommend this course of action to others - it is simply what happened due other life events.

After getting in the ground I started training it. Last Fall I cut back the main center stalk to create the bowl-shaped form you see pictured above.

Yours is lovely! I hope I can shape mine as nicely.

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The buds on my Catalina Cherry-nut are now opening into flowers :slightly_smiling_face:

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Fruit sets :smile:

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I’ve noticed that when the fruits reach the stage of 3/4 ripe, they disappear without a trace. :laughing:

NRCS guide hollyleaf cherry.pdf (70.1 KB)

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Very interesting. So what do you do with the fruit?

I’ve been sampling it. Now that the fruits are approaching full ripeness many of them have about a quarter inch of flesh around the seed. The flavor is pretty close to the wild cherry-sized plums native to The Dakotas. Not bland not tart definitely an average sort of Plum flavor. The majority of seeds are about 5/8" diameter. Given the favorable rating given to the taste of the roasted nuts, I think I’ll skip eating the flesh and start roasting them flesh and all. :smiley:

I tried one of these for the first time from a friend’s yard yesterday. The tree was enormous, planted before they moved in. I thought the fruit tasted very nice even though there wasn’t too much of it.

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Informative article
NRCS guide hollyleaf cherry.pdf (70.1 KB)

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One happy tree!

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So pretty. And I bet that little bee is mighty happy too!

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Today I got serious about collecting nuts from the tree.

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And…?

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That’s probably a third of what’s on the tree. I’ll continue collecting for a week or so as the rest ripen. Then after the “skins” have all dried, there will be the processes of leaching and roasting … hopefully followed by Masa.

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