Fruit ID question

[Coop]

I was taking a walk to in a favorite hunting area of mine this morning and came across this fruit. It is about the size of a cherry but "heart" shaped like a strawberry. It has as small white specks all over it. They were all shaped pretty much the same. I regrettably didn't get a picture of the tree. The fruit was pretty firm on the tree, but softened up on the trip home. It is also BRIGHT red, but that didn't show in the picture. I haven't seen the fruit before, but have seen the tree so maybe I just didn't notice it. I cut it open and it has a pit in the center and the flesh is similar in color and texture to a peach. Obviously I didn't taste it, LOL.

I am just curious what it is.

[ChuckC]

Persimmon ?
ChuckC

[BroMark]

Not like any persimmons around here... I'll be curious to read what this is.

[BMN]

Looks like dogwood to me.

[Coop]

Someone on another site suggested persimmon but I think they are too small and the wrong color?

BMN, Thanks for the suggestion. I researched dogwood and the picture I saw had the berries growing in bunches. These were single, none bunched together.

Next time I am getting a picture of the whole tree, but that won't be for a week or two.

[BMN]

Some dogwoods have single berries.

[Don Stokes]

How big is it? It looks a lot like flowering dogwood- the berries are not always in bunches. The fruit are that color, and around a quarter inch in size.

Deer and squirrels like them.

[Coop]

Hmm that is similar. I don't remember this one have those little bunches at the base like that, but it looks the closest to anything I have seen so far.

Are those common in the SW PA area do you know?

[BMN]

I've never been to SW PA but I would guess they would be very common. My place in the Missouri Ozarks is covered with them. The white flowers make for a beautiful site during the spring turkey season.

[Coop]

Originally posted by Don Stokes:
How big is it? It looks a lot like flowering dogwood- the berries are not always in bunches. The fruit are that color, and around a quarter inch in size.

Deer and squirrels like them.

The tree or the fruit? The tree was crab apple sized I would say.

[gblrklr]

Although you are a little too far north, it looks a little like a Mayhaw.

[stringstretcher]

Looks more like a crabapple to me

[Missing Impossible]

Took the same thing to work last week and someone there said it was a variety of crabapple.  The tree did have long thorns.

[Coop]

Well all I will say about crabapple is, I have never seen a crabapple that had a pit and not seeds or one that had soft "flesh" on the inside like a peach. Every crabapple I have ever seen has been hard as a rock, this wasn't.

Next time I go back I will take my camera and get better pictures of the tree, the leaves, the bark, etc. I didn't think of any of that until I was already home.

[Don Stokes]

Coop, I was wondering about the fruit size, but the tree should be relatively small if it's dogwood. Dogwood trees have bark that's broken up into blocks, and if growing in the woods it is an understory tree. No thorns, leaves simple.

[Talondale]

Looks like the fruit has a stem on it (left side in picture).  If so it's definitely not a dogwood berry.

[spuman]

Hawthorn?

[Coop]

I hope to go back Saturday or Sunday and get some better pics. It did have a stem on one end and the other appeared similar to a tomato.

[Kevin Bahr]

Looks like a crabapple to me.

[Pat B]

Take pics of the tree, the leaves and if you can get a pic of the fruit on the tree. Any identifying charactoristics would be a big help.
I thought Hawthorn also when I saw the fruit and you mentioned the thorns.
You can get a Audubon Field Guide for trees in your area and it has leaves, fruit, bark and tree shape to help identify. Pat