|
|
Post by mskrieger on Jan 27, 2016 16:33:26 GMT -5
Not CT as in Connecticut, CT as in Chinatown. Flushing, to be precise. If I got this wrong (i.e. you knew I meant Chinatown) I think the booth was somewhere between 41st ave. and Sanford. I know it was before Maple since I would have noticed leaving the "zone" (main street in Flushing is sort of divided into four or five "zones" if you are only focusing on the restaurants and shops. You get a cluster, then a few residential blocks then another cluster.) No, you got me right. I'm so disappointed! Was hoping there might be a source of decent Chinese food somewhere in Fairfield County. Alas, I was mistaken. Gotta get to Flushing. |
|
|
|
Post by blueadzuki on Jan 27, 2016 16:39:34 GMT -5
Check the PM I sent you, it might give you a clue to that.
|
|
|
|
Post by DarJones on Jan 31, 2016 15:04:44 GMT -5
Re the question on self compatibility, all walnuts exhibit dichogamy to some extent. This is controlled by a single dominant gene present in all the known species. Each tree produces both pollen and pistillate flowers, however, either the pollen is available first (protandrous) or the pistillate flowers are receptive first (protogynous). There is usually an overlap period where pollen and receptive flowers are both present on the tree. Dichogomous traits are carefully documented for trees such as pecan and Persian Walnut that are grown commercially because it is necessary to plant a combination of protandrous and protogynous trees such that a large percentage of flowers are pollinated.
The simple answer is to always plant more than 1 walnut tree so they get pollinated. Also, walnuts tend to segregate into three groups that do not necessarily pollinate each other. Persian walnuts are generally the most cross compatible with other species. The other two groups are the Black Walnuts such as Juglans Nigra, Juglans Hindsii, and Juglans Major that are native to the Americas and the oriental walnuts such as J. Sieboldiana, J. Mandshurica, and J. Ailantifolia. Interestingly, Juglans Ailantifolia is cross compatible with Juglans Cinerea, the American Butternut with several hybrids selected for nut production traits. The butternut in turn does not normally cross with the eastern black walnut Juglans Nigra.
|
|
|
|
Post by castanea on Mar 8, 2016 23:21:16 GMT -5
Hi all, Well, for the first time in a long time, someone in CT dug something interesting out I hadn't seen before (by now, I've seen so much it's hard to really surprise me). This being near the season of Lunar New Year, a lot of small booths have shown up here and there selling odds and ends for the festivities. I was already familiar with the one with the pile of old Chinese banknotes (I have riffled through it to see if there was anything for my collection, but my collection is mainly coins and tokens, so I have no idea what is a good or bad banknote buy.) But today I was walking by one and found that one of the things being offered was......actual factual Manchurian Walnuts! Damn expensive (about $5 each) but I had to get a handful to try and grow them. If you are wondering why a souvenir shop had such things, apparently Manchurian walnuts that have been smoothed and polished a little are considered lucky charms in China. The tasty kernel in a hard shell (a Manchurian is more like a black walnut than an English one.) symbolizes the fruits of hard work. At least that is what a Chinese friend of mine told me (I guess that explains why I was seeing matched pairs in some Jewelry shops, and wooden carvings of them offered along other statuary (Interestingly, based on the grain, I suspect a lot of the walnut carvings are made of Manchurian walnut wood). I just bought some nice tropical jujubes at an Asian supermarket in Sacramento:  |
|
|
|
Post by steev on Mar 9, 2016 0:52:27 GMT -5
Wow! Those are big jujubes.
|
|
|
|
Post by blueadzuki on Mar 9, 2016 5:37:48 GMT -5
Not to raise trouble, but have you cut one open to confirm they actually ARE jujubes? It's just that they look a lot more like a kind of fruit called a mombin (Spondias mombin). If they are the pits will tell, mombin pits have spikes on them (not the two spindle tips of a jujube pit, actual thorns) (one warning mombins are in the cashew/mango family, so if you are contact allergic to those, wear gloves to cut them open)
|
|
|
|
Post by castanea on Mar 10, 2016 10:02:29 GMT -5
They are jujubes. They are Ziziphus mauritiana or a Ziziphus hybrid. Mombins have a more orangish coloration. Jujubes a more greenish-yellow coloration.
|
|
