I was weeding around my veggie plot when I noticed this green thing hanging from one of the branches on the climbing fig. Not wanting to get up from my well parked bud on the ground, I tried to make out what that thing is ...... could it be a extra large leaf or some kind of insect. Curiosity got me pulling myself away from my very comfortable parking place to inspect this strange looking thing. a Fig ( photo / image / picture from KK Ng's Garden ) As I get closer I started smiling and feeling very pleased to discover that it is a fruit. Wow!!! this is the first time I ever see a fig fruit and I never knew that this climbing fig actually bear fruit! Then a thought occured, if there is fruit, there must be flowers right? No Flowers ( photo / image / picture from KK Ng's Garden ) So I started checking every branch for a possible flower bud or anything that looks like one ....... no luck, just more fruits in various stages of growth. While googling it, I thought maybe it only flower at night and so armed with a torch in the dark I went to check the plant for any possible flower. The only thing I found was a snail and I'll leave it to your imagination as to what happened to it. Google does not have anything on the flower too. Next question is, is it edible? Once again I consulted google and found that it is used to make a jelly called Aiyu Jelly in Taiwan or Ice Jelly in Singapore. It seems that this jelly is notcommonly made or found outside of Taiwan and Singapore. It sounds interesting and I might try to make it if I can get enough fruits. Now to look for the recipe
I'm not sure how I know this except we had a big fig tree in Arizona and have planted two small ones here. Fig trees do not get flowers. Ours just start growing the figs out the side of small branches. My son in California makes fig jam but I have not made any myself. The birds generally got our figs before they were ripe. dooley
Like Dooley, we have figs, but no flowers (at least not that we can see). Fig jam is lovely--I'm sure your Ice Jelly will be delicious. Birds love figs--the secret to having a harvest of figs is to get out early in the morning and pick them when they are green/brown. The birds show up later and peck at the brown ones. Leave the green/brown ones out on the counter for the day, and make your jam the next day.
KK- I hope you can make use of your figs! They certainly are interesting looking aren't they? I don't think they can grow here in Nebraska, so it is a plant I am not familiar with. I really like the glossy leaves.
A fig tree is a most unusual sort of tree. The fig itself (the part that you eat) is not a fruit. The fig is in fact a flower that looks like a fruit. By the time you see the fig on the tree you are looking at the flower. When you make fig jam, which I enjoy very much, you are actually making a flower jam. It is a most unusual tree. dr
Dooley I'll keep an eye out for the birds ... fig jam sounds good too! Thanks. Marlingardener I think I'll try out both, the jam and jelly ..... oops I think I am counting the chicks before they are hatched and not forgetting I might have to share some with the birds if I am not careful. Thanks for the tip. Thanks Kay, I am keeping my fingers crossed. Thanks Desert Rat, so the flower is the fruit is the flower, interesting and the jam sounds really good. OK I guess it is useless to look for something that resembles a typical flower since the flower is the fruit is the flower :-D
KK ng,, were you asking about the edible fruit tree or the climbing fig.In the first post you mentioned "climbing fig" which is a member of the ficus family and I dont think it would be edible, just be sure before you make those nice jams etc. It is actually a ficus pumila ficus pumila ( photo / image / picture from chocolate's Garden )
ficus pimula ( photo / image / picture from chocolate's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from chocolate's Garden ) ( photo / image / picture from chocolate's Garden ) This is my "creeping fig" it is covering a rock wall, the older the plant gets the larger the leaf grows, in the photos you will see two sizes of leaves, they are on the same plant, a tropical plant, and there is also a variegated one which is very pretty and does well in pots, it is not so rampant.
I was just going through some of the websites to learn more about the flower which is the fruit is the flower of this plant and some of them mentioned that it is not edible. My hope of ice jelly and fig jam just shattered. Chocolate thank you so much for the info and yes, I am referring to the climbing fig or ficus pumila. Only Wikipedia mentioned that it is used for making aiyu jelly and most websites mentioned that it is not edible or did not sttate that whether it is edible or not. I told my wife Becky that I should just give it a try and see what happen and she very strongly said that she is not going to send me to ER should it be toxic. Guess it is a no go then!
KK, we don't get anything exotic like that where we live in the north. Thanks for sharing your discovery!
You are most welcome Miss Liberty. Cherylad thanks and I am glad I did not end up in ER I check further on you tube posted by Taiwanese and noticed that their fig is not excatly the same as those on my climbing fig.
KK, too bad that your hopes were shattered. Glad you are not taking the chance to make a trip to the ER. Toxic food is just a horrible situation. Not worth the chance. My sister had a family close to her several years ago that sent the children out to find mushrooms for supper....needless to say, BAD idea. they were found by the milktruck driver the next day and most of them almost died. They all ended up in Children's hospital for quite some time.
hi all here in Johannesburg S Africa, I have also been curious - I have a skin condition in that I bruise easily - I applied some of the fruit "milk" to my arm and left it to dry. Next day, that bruise was much lighter, but it looked like there was a type of dark scab on top. That washed off - now I am trying it on another spot. I'm sure I read somewhere before that the fruit can also be ground into some sort of spice - and Eastern delicacy?
Hi H Marie, I read somewhere that in Taiwan they eat it as a jelly and it is called Aiyu Jelly. I just returned from Taiwan about a month ago and I had lots of aiyu jelly because it is yummy!!! I wasn't able to see the plant itself but I was showed a fruit which is exactly the same as that in my photo and it also need support I was told. Now I am convinced that it is safe to eat it as a jelly and I did not end up in ER!!! Thanks for the info but it is sad to say I do not have the plant anymore because I moved to another house - downsizing.
