A basic herbal guide.

Fruit: Locust and Wild Honey

Locust and Wild Honey, Monstera deliciosa

When found growing outdoors, locust and wild honey is an unassuming vine that prefers a shady spot as it climbs. The leaves have slits and holes, hence the plant's other common names of hurricane plant and swiss cheese plant. The color of the leaf is a deep green, reminiscent of the jungle.

When the plant flowers and begins to produce its fruit, the plant turns from ordinary to slightly x-rated. Simply put, the fruit looks like a phallus with scales and it tastes like nature's candy. Others have described the taste as a cross between a pineapple and a banana. Another unusual trait of this plant is how the fruit is eaten. Once the green scales fall off easily from a fruit that has been removed from the vine, the edible, white and creamy flesh be eaten.

Only nature can produce this type of sweet and nature has a mechanism to prevent overeating this fruit. If you try to force off the green scales instead of allowing them to fall off on their own, your tongue, mouth, and throat will feel as if stuck with tiny needles. Consider this nature's way to prevent you from eating more sweets than you should.

This is a slow fruit that's eaten over a period of days. I wrap mine in a brown bag and check it daily, eating the exposed white flesh as the scales fall off. There's a hard stem in the middle of the fruit that I cut off each time I finish eating. Keep it wrapped in the fridge.

Try It Out

Cut a piece of the leaf at the stem and put it in a large vase to bring a decorative piece of green into your home. Change the water when it gets cloudy.

Place the whole fruit in a wide-mouth jar with water at the bottom and cover with a paper bag. The scales should fall off quicker.

General Benefits

Properties

Low calorie, Vitamin C

Caution

Unripe fruit contains calcium oxalates. Avoid eating unripe fruit.