Natal plum

What it is

The round or oval fruit reaches about 6 cm (2½ in) long. Its smooth skin changes from green through magenta-red to dark crimson. Inside is strawberry-coloured flesh, flecked with milky sap, around six to sixteen small, flat brown seeds.

For eating raw, the fruit is fully ripe, dark red and slightly soft. It can be eaten whole, including the skin and seeds. Green fruit and the rest of the shrub are not food.

Where it comes from

Natal plum comes from the coast of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. It arrived in the United States in 1886 and in Hawaiʻi in 1905, where it spread as a hedge plant. It also grows on a smaller scale in India and East Africa.

How it's eaten where it grows

On Maui, Sunny Savage makes a holiday relish with seeded, sliced Natal plums, diced pineapple and grated orange peel. The ingredients are simply mixed together. Her other uses include Natal plum and toasted-coconut ice cream, chutneys and fruit-infused vinegar.

The fruit also cooks into sauce, pies and tarts. For jam, the skin can stay on or be peeled away.

How it's grown

Natal plum grows best in full sun and tolerates salty soil and sea spray. Its roots need drainage: waterlogged ground does not suit it. A plant grown from seed can start fruiting in two years; one grown from a cutting can fruit earlier. Small beetles and night-flying insects pollinate the flowers in its South African home.

When and where you'll find it

In Hawaiʻi, Natal plum usually fruits several times through the year. It is often a fruit of gardens and hedges, with the crop a bonus from a plant grown as a protective hedge. Beyond fresh eating, whole fruits can be preserved in jars of sugar syrup.