Can you eat dogwood fruits?

I believe my dogwood is of the Korean variety. 1/3 of it is variegated. It has all of these little red fuits all over it. Do you eat them? What do they taste like? Recipes?

Thanks!

Don't know for sure, but I'm born & bred in the deep south and have lived here all my life.
( Well, not quite yet). Don't think anyone here has ever even considered eating Dogwood berries. So my guess is there most likely poisonous to humans. Birds eat a lot of things that would kill a human.

?

SB

There's an edible-berried dogwood -- is it kousa? I will have to look up the name. I think it is Korean. The berries are lots larger than on native American dogwoods. A friend had one fruiting in NC when I visited recently... I tasted a berry, and it was just delicious -- sweet & fruity!

Raintree has them! Here's a link: http://www.raintreenursery.com/catalog/productdetails.cfm?ProductID=D585

They also have Cornus mas, a different dogwood with an edible berry, aka Cornelian Cherry.

I haven't grown either of them, but after the taste I had, I'm going to look for a C. kousa!

Well then I'll have to try one too!

The tree was in front of my MIL's best friend's house. I was pretty sure of its ID and edibility, but you should've heard the two of them when I picked up a fruit to taste.... Jill, what are you doing? Jill, put that down! Jill, don't eat that, it could be poisonous! I don't want you dropping dead right in my front yard! Oh, mercy! Jill, don't eat any more of those!!

So all I got was one small taste. Nevertheless, I thought the flavor was outstanding! Reminded me a little of persimmon, but it was hard to describe... What did you think of it, renwings?

HA! That's funny!
Mine are all on the ground now. I was disapointed to find I waited too long. But I did open one up earlier in the year to look at the seeds. The texture reminded me of a meally apple, but it smelled pleasant.
I'll see if I can get you some seeds if there are still some hanging around. I traded some to famerdill earlier.

Oh, cool, I would love some seeds! Surely I can find something to trade you for them.... :-) LMK.

The one I tasted was actually one I picked up off the ground. It was very soft & pulpy inside, but the aroma and flavor were wonderful.

I found four fruits that hadn't been eaten by varmits. They've shrivelled up and turned dark. You may have a heck of a time getting the seeds out.
*gasp* you have Stevia!

I have seeds from last year.... Dmail me, and we'll do a swap, or I'll just send some out to you.

I've tried Kousas and the only thing I can compare them to is a White Sapote, so if you haven't lived in the tropics, then you may not be able to relate. They're sweet, but the skin can be a bit bitter and some trees have fruit that are bit resinous (like turpentine). Most I've tried have grit cells like a pear. With the texture they have, they'd probably cook down and make a good fruit butter.

ooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..... *closing eyes and imagining the flavor*

Fruit butter from Kousas -- what a fabulous idea!

Hopefully I will find a variety to plant that does not taste like turpentine, LOL!

You'll probably do well with 'Big Apple'. It was specifically selected for fruit. The ones that grow around here are all seedlings that were heavily planted for landscaping instead of the native dogwoods when fears of dogwood blight were at their worst. Kousas are resistant to it and they were all planted for foliage and flowers, not fruit, so there's a lot of variation. Some have good fruit, some don't. Darn, now after all this talk, I'm going to have to get me a 'Big Apple'!

Thanks for the recommendation!

Critterologist- You are a riot!

I too, eat Kousa berries. People are horrified, but I've never been sick. They seem to be highly variable- some years sweet and persimmon-y; other years acrid tasting with tough skin. I would love it if someone had a recipe for jelly!

As someone who grows nonastringent persimmons, I am wondering whether the Kousas are astringent, and whether they taste like persimmons or turnpentine is dependent on whether they are fully ripened.

If they aren't fully ripened, the taste can be unpleasant, but there is variation from tree to tree and season to season in even fully ripend fruit.

I looked for recipes, but all I found was a suggestion to top a parfait with one. I guess you could do them like apple or peach butter.