20+ Native Fruits and Vegetables You Probably Didn't Know About
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- Опубліковано 9 лют 2025
- Looking for native edible plants for Florida? Check out this list full of fruits and vegetables that are easy to grow for Floridians.
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Hey Jacqueline had to let you know your videos have made my last few months bearable after receiving a rare cancer diagnosis in Sept I had to give up this Falls garden due too side effects from chemo and recent surgery. I look forward to your sweet and bubbly personality daily now to get me through this recovery, best medicine for this Holiday season! Merry Christmas to you and your family, and thank you for all the work you've put into turning out these videos. Many Blessings!
I hope you are doing much better🤗
Hope you are doing well! ❤
Touche on papaya, very few people know about the seeds found in Calusa trash sites. But a couple things you may or may not have known. Datil peppers were until recently thought to be an import from Cuba by early Spanish explorers. However, when they (I think UF) did a genetic study of the pepper they found it to be its own species that is found no where else in the world, hence native to Florida. In addition the seminole pumpkin is likely native. There is evidence the Tomoka Tribe grew them in Northeast Florida, one of the first explorers to document traveling through Florida mentioned seeing hanging pumpkins along the St John's River and also near Lake Okeechobee. The Seminoles found the pumpkins growing north of Tampa and named the area Chassahowitzka loosely translated to hanging pumpkins.
It's the Chickasaw Plum that suckers a lot but the Flatwoods Plum is basically all seed and no pulp. The Chickasaw Plum is named after the Chickasaws that ate it extensively because it was 'meatier'.
I agree, flatwoods plum is a better choice for feeding birds as a landscape plant in my opinion. Does not sucker as much and has small fruit perfect for birds.
Gulf Fritillary, Zebra Longwing, Julian, and Variegated Fritillary butterflies use passiflora as a host plant.
Chassahowitzka (a river and preserve on the gulf coast just south of Crystal River) means "pumpkin hanging place" in the FL dialect of the Seminole language. Along that river tribes grew the "seminole" pumpkins trellised up the trees instead of on the ground. so while still not helping on date issue, they were grown at least that far down into central FL.
Chinquapin grows well for me. I live in Citrus county. It's a native chestnut. Chickasaw plums are good but tart. Those grow wild everywhere here. Black cherry is another one, but more useful for jams.
Gopher apples are everywhere in CC!
I think they are related to Cocoplum.
@@aaronb4493 they are! Cocoplums are incredible too but don't grow as far as CC naturally.
I've got two small cocoplums I've had for about 3 months. They're doing really well so far in CC but the real challenge will be when it freezes. I'm doing what I can to create a microclimate though
I tried Cocoplum right by my house, and the hard freezes took them out. None survived. However the sea grapes froze back, but returned from the roots. But never grew tall enough by the following winter to ever flower. I eventually got rid of them. My focus was on hardier plants for my area.
Grew up in west Pasco. Everyone had a native pecan tree! And pear trees! Oh, I miss those. They were a "sand" type ( the flesh was slightly gritty) and produced like crazy!!
I found maypop growing in some trees across from my house. I was able to harvest the fruit this year, it's delicious. I also found some beautyberry growing. I made some jelly with it, it's also delicious.
I would love to suggest a series where you go into great detail on how to grow “name of edible plant here” in Florida or everything you should know to grow “name of edible plant here.” Papayas, peppers, tomatoes, sweet potatoes (how do you cure them in Florida anyway?)….
A wealth of knowledge !!!!!!!
Swamp cabbage yum.
HA! Florida Betony! I think that is what our oldest dog is eating 🤔 she's 16 years old and my mother's dog (mom passed a week after Irma) anyway she has always digging around eating something. Mother thought it was some type of grub. One day I wrestled it from her mouth, and it wasn't a grub but a whitish root. I think it's betony that she's digging up. 😆
Florida betony is a great ground cover. I have them native in my yard. Yes they do spread like crazy but I don't care because the flowers are pretty and the tubers taste good. The leaves are popping up now so I have a sea of green around my property
I have Florida Betony too, I love it as ground cover also😊
Sorry this is not the native Maypop, but those who really want to grow a passionfruit in Florida may want to try the Brazilian yellow variety. It is so vigorous, it outgrows the purple variety 3X faster; take that, you munching bugs!. Many leaves are bigger than my hand, and in 7 months of actual growing (meaning semi-regular water and occasional compost when soil level dropped in the container), it produced all sorts of flower buds. It unfortunately got chopped for Ian, cause my trellis was too flimsy, but has since grown to cover the trellis again, even if no more flowers this year. I have seen it producing so much fruit in a Central Florida yard that the owner just lets the fruit drop after selecting the choice ones for freezing. Fruit is large, at least 5" long, lots of pulp, but more tart than purple passionfruit.
Another fab video, Jaqueline! My Xmas list runneth over!
Dang dats a big passion vine flower the corkystem is so small
Some non-natives are poisonous to our native caterpillars like the Zebra Longwing
Just so people know.
Yeah! I've been waiting for this....
Would you be willing to make a video about keeping a Garden journal? What items you put in it, how you lay it out, and just a how-to for newbies. I am new to Florida, and your videos have been a great help and a pleasure to watch.
Good morning, fellow Gardeners 🌱🪴🌿🍃, Thank you, Jacqueline so excited to hear about native fruits 😋 Plan on looking for Paw, Paw.
We've got a few wild wooly pawpaw growing throughout our yard a little north of you south of spring hill about 45 min. Been saving all the seeds this year, I think there might even be a few fruit left hanging.
Thanks to the algorithm for pushing me this way. Great video :)
Native Floridian here! I love the suggestions! We have several Beautyberry bushes in our yard and they are wonderful for keeping mosquitos away. I will say though, Yaupon Holly is the devil. I moved from S FL to N FL a few years ago and it is everywhere here. It takes over absolutely everything and is impossible to get rid of once its in the yard! It's a never-ending battle to keep it our of our garden and our fruit trees.
Love this video!! I have some of these in my yard but excited to incorporate more!!! Thank you and Merry Christmas
I am so enjoying your videos. We appreciate your hard work!
Recently came across your channel and just subscribed.
Great list and a couple I didn’t know. Also wanted to say that prickly pear cactus, smilax, and sand spurs are also native and edible.
Great Video wow 😮
Great video! I have some tasty native Tallow Plum, Ximenia Americana growing their juicy yellow fruits in my Lee County garden.
Oh, I love persimmons!!! Yes, pecans do grow up here in zone 9A/B but, unless you know what you are doing as far as maintenance of them, they tend to be a very messy tree with limbs that can fall on your house/sheds etc... hey Jacqueline..what about scuppernong.. also, back in the sixties, my Great grandfather had a plum tree with the sweetest juiciest little red plums I've ever tasted. I've tried my best to find out what type it was but never have.... I know it didn't spread and was only one tree, but it was an old tree.... .TFS all these! I'm going to look into several of them.❤❤❤🦩🦩🦩
Love, love, loved this video. I have to watch it at least once more, packed with info:) thank you and God bless.
We have native paw paws, but the fruit is very small. I gathered some this year and have put them in my pollinator garden hoping to get a patch.
I am sooo glad I stumbled upon your videos! Your knowledge and presentation, mixed with lessons in history, make your videos very engaging. I am on the eastern side and had contemplated going native, you just kickstarted me into planning out the transition. Thank you!
Beautyberry make a beautiful addition to salads 🥗 😍 ❤️
This list is great! And helpful. Thanks!
You're very welcome!
Will you be keeping your vlogmas videos up after the holidays? There is so much great info in these videos and life is so crazy, it is hard to absorb and retain all this new knowledge! Thank you for all of these videos! You are a gem!
Thank you for reminding me i have two bunches of elderberrys i need to process lol, also note on the pawpaw trees. They take FOREVER to grow. We've had two for about 10 years and they are only about 6 feet tall, they are slow growers.
Thank you for this great info
They will grow in central Florida. My grandmother has a pecan tree in The Tampa Bay Area
I lost my great grandmothers pecan tree recently. Planted it the 40s I think. Never saw a pecan off of it though. Squirrels got them all
I had a great uncle, who made elderberry wine. It was my paternal grandmother's brother. On Christmas eve and New Year's eve was the only time I ever remember gran having alcohol. One glass of elderberry wine each of those nights and that was it. Not even on her birthday nor her & grandpa's anniversary. 🍷
The caterpillars demolished the passion fruit vines I had growing. I over planted, had four large and tons of seedlings all were eaten until only stem remained 😭
The struggle. When I lived in Miami the vines grew out of control, tons of fruits without any effort, and now that I'm in central FL the butterflies eat them down to a tiny one inch tall stem sticking out of the sand.
That's actually great, you are feeding the much needed butterfly population 😊
I may have missed you mentioning it, but the cabbage palm's edible center is sold in grocery stores as "hearts of palm" in the canned vegetables aisle. If you have a larger yard, babies pop up constantly. I have a few with 2-foot trunks, so I'm hoping to attack one for Christmas!
Very good video! Lots of information, thanks for the N FL tips 😉
Have you tried growing Florida ground cherry? I started growing one this Spring and it's the only thing (other than my papaya) loving the wet rains, humidity, and heat of August.
Great video: 9 out of 10. 10 of 10 would be if you also had the hardiness zones pop up on screen when you mention the plants.
So glad I found your channel! Northeast Florida here. Great videos
There used to be 2 massive pecan trees in the front yard of Morgan Fitzgerald middle school. Neighbors used to come pick them up from the ground before school started in the mornings.
I am in south Texas zone 9b so I get a lot of info from your videos that applies to my area. I have grown passion vines and yes they get decimated by the caterpillars. I also grow elderberry and mulberry. Turks Cap is native here and edible but so invasive I pulled mine out after 30 years of dealing with it. I have 28 edibles in my yard but most are not native. It is next to impossible to buy Florida natives for Texas growing.
Hey there! What a great morning already! Thanks for answering my question in a full video!
Nice video. I'd also suggest adding blackberries and Creeping cucumber to that list.
The pawpaw you are talking about is A. triloba which doesn't fruit in warmer winter areas. There are several native pawpaws though and many that grow in the central and South Florida area, however they produce smaller fruits and of course taste is variable with any non-cultivated variety.
Where can I find a beauty berry plant? I’ve been all over the Tampa Bay Area nurseries, native plant nurseries and big box stores and they seem clueless when I ask. I bought one from Amazon but it died within a week. I did see some at a state park several years ago and now I regret not taking a small cutting if it can be regrown from cutting. 🤦🏼♀️
Sweet Bay in Parrish, Wilcox in Largo, and maybe Little Red Wagon in Tampa.
@@WildFloridian great! I’ll try Sweet Bay later in Fall when I’m down that way. I’ve tried the other two w no luck. Thanks
Elderberry sprouts up all around the tree spreading and popping up.
Hi I am loving these answer videos you are doing! So much great information in each one. I would like to know what are your top list of plants and methods for propagating established plants?
I enjoy guava. Not native but grows well here.
Great video. Very informative. I’m looking to plant a few of the natives.
Thanks for this video! Super educational! I did let a random palm grow in my yard only to learn it was a "swamp cabbage". So I did cut it down and ate it! It was super delicious! I do recall that there are 2 apples that can grow in FL. I was wondering if you know if they are native apples? All your info is perfect for me as I am also in the Burg!
Crabapple is native to north Florida, but this isn't the eating apples you refer to (Anna. Dorsett, Ein Shamir).
@@dustyr1554 Thanks for your reply and thanks for all you info!
I’d love to add some of these to my yard :) Do you have any recommendations for where to purchase seeds or live plants?
We just moved to St Pete a couple months ago. Do you ever have meet ups???
Join your local chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society. They meet regularly
I have a bunch of these in zone 9b. So agree on the beautyberry! Fruit is kind of meh...but I see them all over in the state forests and wildlife management areas. :)
16:20 I’ve seen a few of these tubers in my yard, but aren’t those white common flower “weed” pusley tubers?
I absolutely love this one great video.
What is the name of the native persimmon??? Maybe I can find it at native nursery.
Here is the scientific name Diospyros virginiana. I haven’t seen it at the native nurseries near me. You may have to call around to find it. It sounds like it easier to get in northern Florida
They have them in St. Augustine. The American persimmons available I don’t think are from Florida trees.
@@mwnemo thanks I hope to find it in Tallahassee Native Nursery or Just Fruits in Crawfordville. I know Native Nursery will order it if they don't have it on hand.
@@zaneymay Just Fruits has a bunch of “Kaki” varieties. I know for a fact that Native Nurseries in Tallahassee has them, not grafted so you don’t know if it is a male or female persimmon. Native Nursery’s used to sell a bunch of bare root trees for very cheap in the spring. You may want to call them and see before you drive there. Both places have excellent customer service in my dealings with both nurseriesz
@@mwnemo thank you. Lol my channel name use to be ZaneyMay Just Keep Planting.
Chickasaw plumbs form thickets which are inconvenient for small yards.
Seagrapes also grow in Yucatán, but from what I understand they aren't really grapes, but a very different species. Do they taste like grapes?
Yes- they do taste kind of like a grape. Slightly more watery texture, but a sweet soft taste, tiny hints of salt - very good! Fun to eat at the beach!
Really interesting...☺️
For pecans, in 9b when I was a kid we had a healthy tree that produced yearly with neglect lol until it was struck by lightning
How is your alternative lawn going?
Sea grapes are delicious
Yay sea grapes 🍇
If you look at the florida plant atlas it shows that the Tabasco pepper is also native to florida
It has a disclaimer though. "A monograph of the genus did not cite any wild populations of this species in Florida (Barboza et al. 2022), cause for speculation that it is misapplied or introduced in Florida."
Hi I like your videos. Was watching your one on native edible plants and noticed you listed paw paw. Just like you need to be careful with greens that have oxalates, Paw Paw needs a warning. Paw Paw has annonacin in the fruit that is a neurotoxin that can cause Parkinson like symptoms if consumed in quantity and over time like one would if eating fruit. Just wanted to let you know
Teach us more about the paw paw!
I found a mulberry behind a bank and chick fil a in the woods. I cut some branches off and have a solid 3 that are growing fantastic with tons of new growth. I think it's a white mulberry, not the native. I have planted 2 beauty berry's in my yard too, and had pancakes with beauty berry blend jam on top. Muscadines are difficult to find that produce, lve found one spot behind a store with a ton of grapes and my friends yard, I haven't had any luck yet digging a runner and replanting it.
If you have any tips on the what to do for the freezing temps expecting next Friday, Dec 23rd for tomatoes specially.
I avoid eating things with added sugar. So I was thinking maybe beauty Berry might work in salads? Has anyone tried this?
Question does mint grow good here in florida ? Mint is expensive in the store . Norh west florida is wear I'm at very hot here .
What about opuntia cactus
I found two persimmon trees on my dad's property that they didn't know were there right before Irma came through. They got snapped in half by a falling bay tree. I don't think they made it? At least I haven't been able to find them since.
Does wilcox nursery sell elderberry or the scrub blueberry?
Yes. Definitely scrub blueberry. I pretty sure I’ve seen elderberry there too
@@WildFloridian thanks!
Are Datil peppers not native? They are pest free and easy for me in northeast FL.
Can everglades tomatoes handle summer heat or is it only a spring/fall crop and can I plant them in like May for summer tomatoes? And I want some pawpaw - where can I find'm
They absolutely can handle the heat. They are my only tomato that keeps pushing and thriving through the heat. Which is good because they're my toddlers favorite thing in the garden.
Where can I get Spiderwort?
Jejej que bueno
I just saw native papaya at Deering Estate protected area. The plant is quite large while the fruits are smaller. Acoording to the especialist the flavor is kind of bland. And yes, it spreads really fast...
Where can you buy these plants?
I wonder where can I get scrub blueberry, yapon holy, and beauty berry? 🤔
HOA proof of concept?
Sweet Bay should carry them down by you. Just call them ahead of time
@@WildFloridian thank you!
I think you spoke of more than 20 plants
I'm a local of St. Augustine and everyone grows datil peppers. Are they native to Florida?
No
Interestingly, it’s my understanding that palm trees were not native to North Florida, and they imported palm trees to make North Florida look like Florida for tourist marketing. Our native tree is Southern Yellow Pine, and it, and turpentine, was huge business at the turn of the 19th century, and exported all over the world.
A jacket 😱
be selective on the passion fruit you plant. some hybrids don't make an edible fruit.
My passion vine grew so full, then the hornets made their home in it. Unfortunately I had to take the vine down because my husband is allergic to a hornet sting. ER allergic. So since I like my husband more than the vine, I took it down. It never produced fruit anyway. And the hornets ate all of my gulf fritillary caterpillars. So bye bye passion fruit vine. 😞😞😞😞😞
After taking a dive down that rabbit hole the other night of surviving on edible natives I found out a lot of North American "native plants" are plants that have become naturalized over a thousand years ago way before the europeans came. A lot of plants that most people assume native actually came up from South America with native americans. Maybe the correct term would be indigenous? But if modern man started in Africa, would indigenous be the correct term? Maybe Canada has its right, First People? A person can go batty trying to figure it out 🤪🤣
First People would be a bit of a misnomer. Florida has had several tribal eras, with all going out existence except the Seminoles who migrated in.
@@dustyr1554 good grief, have they changed their minds about the clovis people being the first into the Americas? I swear, I'm getting too old to keep up! 🤦♀️
North Florida has a ridiculous amount of pecans
Coco plums and sea grapes aren’t related to grapes or plums. Plums are in the apple family. Coco plum are in a different family not roseaceace. Sea grapes aren’t related Grapes there just tropical plants called grapes and plums because they can’t grow normal ones as good on the tropics muscadine grapes are true grapes.
Cool! Thank you thank you 😄
@@WildFloridian also pond apple is native to Florida and is related to pawpaws but not that edible
Mold is destroying my papayas. Fruits are covered in spots.
When you talk native edibles, no offense, but Florida is not the whole of America. I’m all into native American edibles, I don’t care if they originated in Mississippi or not. If Seminole pumpkins originated in America, then they’re a native edible. And some of my sources say that the Everglades tomato originated in South America.
"Eat native plants! AHGHGHH!"
Unripe persimmons. I hate thinking I'm about to enjoy a wonderful persimmon only to find out I was mistaken. 😖
pee-kin
Make videos on how to cook recipes with Native plants
Could papaya been introduced by southern Native south American and Taino tribes 300bc ?? I feel like we overlook ancient Native American trading and assume we saw a seed back then it must have be native
Absolutely a possibility. By strict definition, if it was naturalized in Florida prior to 1500, then by technical definition it is native 😄
@@WildFloridian there isn't a technical definition of "native plant" accepted by everyone. FNPS works with the idea of being pre- Columbian exchange (since imports exploded at that point), but we still struggle a bit with plants that are likely indigenous people imports and how to address natural migrations that happen post Columbian Exchange.