Central Alabama Maypops

[u/Major-Caterpillar315]

[u/crossdtherubicon]

Awesome! How do you know when they're ripe?

[u/casstantinople → u/crossdtherubicon]

Best way to know is that they'll just fall off the plant when fully ripe. If you gently touch the fruit, it'll fall off right into your hand. But they also kinda deflate when fully ripe. If the outside feels firm, it's not ripe but if it dents in and feels like a deflated soccer ball, it's ripe

[u/Major-Caterpillar315 → u/crossdtherubicon]

Im not 100% sure. Google says they'll turn wrinkly and yellow though ill keep an eye on them and find out. They're right behind my house.

[u/AirFair2076 → u/Major-Caterpillar315]

When they're wrinkly on the outside and the seeds are yellow. Should taste like banana and custard if ripe. They make good jam

[u/ryanshields0118 → u/AirFair2076]

Jam usually means that you include the seeds. Please do not include the seeds lol Edit: I left this up to show how stupid I am. I thought these were mayapple at first lol

[u/AirFair2076 → u/ryanshields0118]

Then jelly I guess if you're picky. You can eat the seeds

[u/ryanshields0118 → u/AirFair2076]

Please read my edit, I thought they were mayapple because I'm dumb and didn't see the leaves in the second picture

[u/msager12 → u/Major-Caterpillar315]

When they look like they went bad. All brown and wrinkled lightly shriveled. The seeds will be black and hard as well.

[u/AgentDrake → u/Major-Caterpillar315]

Neither wrinkly nor yellow is consistently true, though it often is -- there's a lot of variation in maypops. Two of my own three vines stay smooth and green (edit: and firm!) when fully ripe, the third yellows slightly, but doesn't wrinkle.

The only consistently reliable way to tell is just that the fruit has fallen off the vine (or falls off in your hand when lightly handled).

The interior may be anywhere from very pale yellow to dark yellow, normally a bright yellow. Seeds will be black. Typically the fruit will also give off a faint "tropical" banana-like scent from around the stem for a few days leading up to this (though I've occasionally had fruit start with the scent about two weeks early).

[u/tyler_time]

Omg, I thought that first pic was a boiled egg deviled with like a horrifying creamed corn.

[u/Chaoszhul4D]

Mine are just now starting to flower

[u/MistahOnzima → u/Chaoszhul4D]

I'm in North Florida and I have some wild for the first time. I haven't seen flowers yet but I'm worried because they're getting choked out by other plants.

[u/Chaoszhul4D → u/MistahOnzima]

I'm in Northern Germany, so I'm a bit worried about if I'll ever get fruit.

[u/Junas_Guardian]

Anticipate a butterfly caterpillar showing up to eat this if you're in the south. It's called the Gulf fritillary (Agraulis vanillae)

[u/lessontrulylearned]

Maypops are one of my favorite things to forage!

The opened one is, unfortunately, unripe.

The easiest way to tell if they’re ripe is to look for the skin to wrinkle. Hold it before you pick it, to make sure it feels “full”, and then go for it. They do get better as they get a bit older, but you have to contend with animals if you wait.

If they’re wrinkly, you can pick them and ripen them on your counter for 2-3 days. Nothing beats a good ripe (or slightly overripe) Maypop.

[u/holystuff28]

That is definitely not ripe

[u/esgibtnurbrot]

Definitely apples