Escobaria vivipara- complex

[Lori S.]

Thanks, Rick, much obliged! 
I have no idea what the fruits on Escobaria vivipara even look like, but do peel them first, okay?  (I'm shuddering at the thought of lips full of glochids!)

[RickR]

This season will be the first time I'll be tasting, the skin might be a bit tough.  However, I don't think peeling them is an option.  The inside is not firm, but filled with a gelatinous material kind of like tomatoes.  

I'm not worrying about the tiny thorns (glochids).  There are relatively few, and the way the berries grow and are removed doesn't really allow for contact with any areoles (the thorny tufts).  As the berries grow, they push the tubercles apart to make room for themselves, and the stiff, wide spreading thorns keep the berries from touching the areoles at harvest.  One might think that the extraction of a ripe berry from this cactus would be difficult, but it's not.  Rarely, a berry might even pop out on its own.  More often, ripe berries detach but are trapped in place by the surrounding thorns.  Fortunately, the dried up remains of the flower remain securely attached to the inferior fruit, and provide an easy handle to grab with your fingers and pull the berry out.  There are always a few where tweezers are required, however.  

                        

                 

[Hoy]

I think you'll have to eat quite a few to get satisfied, Rick! What about making jam?

I have to confess all my seedlings died - the last died during the winter although I grew them inside in a cool but frost free place.

[Weiser]

Thanks, Rick, much obliged! 
I have no idea what the fruits on Escobaria vivipara even look like, but do peel them first, okay?  (I'm shuddering at the thought of lips full of glochids!)

Lori, no worries about glochids with most cactus fruits. It is only the Opuntias and their close relatives that produce them, and if the fruits were from Opuntias I would be careful too.

[DesertZone]

A couple of pics from the garden.

[RickR]

Welcome to the forum, Desert Zone!

Those are some nice plants.  The eastern forms of the species seem to be less spiny, giving a more green look to them.  Yours are very attractive.  Where do you garden?

[DesertZone]

Thanks
I garden in southern Idaho 25 miles north of Twin-Falls.  My climate is a zone 5b.  I will try and put it by my user name later.

[Weiser]

Aaron

Great to see you join the forum!! I'm excited and look forward to your posts. It's great to have another hardy cactus enthusiast, join in the fray.

[DesertZone]

Good too be here.
  What a cool forum and such awesome gardens.   Also glad to see people I know from other forums.
PS thanks again for all the amazing seed.

[cohan]

Some great looking Escobarias, DZ--is it Aaron?
Rick, E vivipara covers a huge natural range with a lot of subspecies and forms.. check seed at Alplains and Mesa.. I have a few little seedlings from Alplains of a Texas(? if I'm remembering....) form that is supposed to have blackish spines.. not yet, but does have red and darker than my other viv seedlings..
the Alberta forms I have seen also seem to be somewhat more open and less spiny looking..

[DesertZone]

Some great looking Escobarias, DZ--is it Aaron?

Yep.... Aaron

[RickR]

A fairly good harvest of Escobaria vivipara berries, about 45.  These from plants grown from seed collected at the South Dakota/Minnesota borderland.  As "promised", a taste test ensued.

        

Except for the difference in texture (but not all that different), I'd almost swear they were Minnesota wild blueberries!  (perhaps just a bit more sour, but very sweet)  Skins were not tough at all.  I am extremely pleased!

John, would you (or anyone else) concur?

[Hoy]

What about making jam?
Do you spit out the seed or are they wasted? (I assume you leave your droppings in a wc and not in the nature

[RickR]

Jam would be silly at this point.  I don't think the forty-some berries would even make a half cup (100 grams).  Seeds are tiny like blueberries, too.  Not spit-outable  .  I will still get over a thousand seeds: plenty for everyone's needs.

[Weiser]

Rick
I went out and tried a couple myself. They are tart with, a hint of a berry taste.
I also tried a ripe Escobaria missouriensis it is drier, with a taste more in line with rose hips. Rather bland with just a slight hint of sweetness.