What is this fruit? Ornamental shrubs bear fruit, but is it edible?

[Arob]

Not Far From the Tree is a Toronto-based urban fruit-harvesting group that roams the city in search of windfalls—unwanted fruit and even the sap that runs through the city’s maples. In 2010, a group of 700 volunteers and four staff picked over 19,695 pounds of cherries, service berries, mulberries, plums, crab apples, apples, pears, grapes, walnuts, pawpaw, elderberries and ginkgo from 228 trees. The volunteers divide the harvest three ways: one third is offered to the tree owner, one third is shared among the volunteers, and one third is delivered by bicycle to food banks, shelters and community kitchens.

But what is this fruit?

It looks like a cherry.? The bottom of the fruit looks like a rose hep. there are no leaves on the tree at this time of year, but its still loaded with fruit.

The tree is very large (its in Brampton, in front of Numi laser spa) and the fruit is still hanging on the branches in the middle of March.

The tree is over fifteen feet tall and is loaded with fruit. If edible, these berries could fill a hundred pies, but what is this fruit exactly? What pastries and desserts can you bake with these fruits? (they re not rosehips)

 

[BurlOak]

If the birds and squirels don't eat it, I wouldn't trust it.

 

[James]

It certainly comes across looking like a type of cherry tree. The condition of the fruit doesn't quite inspire that much confidence in me to actually pick them and eat them though!

 

[adma]

Actually, it does remind me of certain edible crabapple trees (there's a couple by the entrance to the McKinsey Building on Charles W)--and in fact w/such trees, the fruit's ideal state of edibility *is* when it's overripe and jelly-like. (Some fruit is like that; persimmons most notably.)

Didn't know it was the sort of tree fruit that'd last into March, though.

 

[spider]

Mountain Ash?

 

[BurlOak]

Mountain Ash?

We had American Mountain Ash - the berries were orange, not red. Also, they grew in clumps like a grape, not each having its own stem like a cherry (or apple). I think crab apple is a better guess.

 

[jaycola]

I believe this is a "chokecherry".
Not poisonous but not palatable either.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prunus_virginiana

 

[Admiral Beez]

It's a Triffid!

 

[Arob]

here are pics of rosehips

I believe this is a "chokecherry".
Not poisonous but not palatable either.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prunus_virginiana

here is what Wikipedia offers up as Rose hips

here is what NWID Native Plants for Health shows as rose hips,

Do you think its possible that some crafty genetic engineer has 'created' these trees by crossbreeding and combining cherry trees and rose hip bushes ?

 

[adma]

Again: I wouldn't mind knowing what the trees (or is it just one tree?) flanking the McKinsey entrance are.

 

[emardas]

Hi everyone
I'm writing to you from Melbourne, Australia. It appears that fruit pictured above is some kind of Chinese Hawthorn (i.e. Crataegus). There's a good chance it may have hybridised with a local chokeberry to get fruits as large as those! Give the fruit a try - they look perfectly healthy. Send me a few of the really largest fruit - I'll plant their seeds in my garden & boast that I've got a 'bit of Toronto' growing in Australia!