Endangered Fruit Cactus

Hello all,

An unknown stork delivered me these seeds long ago and I do not know the stork's whereabouts any longer if you need to interrogate it. I sowed them as it was getting cold. Germination was spotty as each fruit produces thousands of seeds. I also neglected the sprouts slightly because I botched sowing the seeds in a huge tray when I should've sown them in a pot.

Broadly called the "Fragrant Cactus Apple", it is apparently endemic to my specific county in Florida and found nowhere else. I have not been able to determine if it is Harissia simpsonii or Harissia fragrans, you can Google both for pictures. Looks like a slightly hairy apple, tight and plump, and the inside resembles a dragon fruit.

It is endangered and surely nearing extinction as development continues.

I have a decent amount of seeds left if you'd like 10-20 of them to try and keep this pant alive. Perhaps I will sell the rest on Etsy, but selling 5 seeds, I don't know about that because as I said, germination was a little spotty. Perhaps it was my method of sowing.

It grows in pure sand, the poorest soil in the entire country found right here in my hometown. It's a cactus, so drought tolerant. It is sensitive to the cold. You must nurture them heavily for years once they sprout as they will grow slowly. Once established, it should be very hardy as long as it a) doesn't get water logged, and b) doesn't get frozen.

Cheers

Any pictures of the developed fruit or experiences eating them?

I agree with Devon.

Have the cactus bloomed and fruited yet?

My prickly pears are blooming as I write this and the fruit will not be ripe until August.

I would love to find out how the cactus is doing, what color the blooms are and what the fruit looks like.

I was mostly interested just to see photos and what not, if you want to n purple moosage me with some contact info I have some family that may be interested in a handful of seeds to trial in you general vicinity

Devon Olsen wrote:Any pictures of the developed fruit or experiences eating them?

Unfortunately I lost the photos of the cut open fruit... Outside was tight and red with soft hair tufts, and inside is almost identical to a dragon fruit.

Before I learned it was endangered there's a chance that some of the fruit juice found its way into my digestive tract after I extracted the seeds.

The cacti are still as large as shown in the photo. They will take probably a decade to mature. They live in a rough, dry, and nutrient-less environment. As opposed to desert cacti that seem to grow in silty or clay soil that happens to be dry, these grow in pure, dead white sand that cannot hold onto a drop of water. How this cactus made is this long is beyond me... It is no wonder urban development decimated them. It's a bit of a paradoxical plant.

As stated I have not been able to determine if it is simpsonii or fragrans, but the fruit was not yellow.

Thank you for the response, here's to hoping your cactus grows well for you!

I think if you're seed saving then there's nothing wrong with eating the fruits, it would be a delicacy since its rare, and special.  I think its great that you're promoting the growth of this special plant!  I'm in zone 8b so I don't want to risk using some of your precious seeds on an experimental attempt up here, best for them to go to people who live in zones where they could clearly succede.