Sorry we do not ship. The Che California Dreamin (Cudrania tricuspidata), is also known as Chinese Mulberry, or Mandarin Melonberry. This small tree is in the mulberry family and is native to eastern Asia, but has been naturalized around the globe. This variety is self-fertile so you only need one plant to bear fruit in the fall. The fruit tastes like a cross between a fig and watermelon. These trees are grafted on Osage orange rootstock to prevent suckering.
Che California Dreamin
‘Che California Dreaming’ is a productive female selection of che valued for its upright growth habit and large, attractive fruit. When fully ripe, the deep maroon-red berries develop a juicy sweetness often compared to watermelon or cantaloupe.
This variety is commonly reported to be self-fertile, though fruit set may improve if a male che is nearby. Trees may take a few seasons to become established before reliably holding mature fruit.
The fruit is typically nearly seedless or contains very few seeds, making it excellent for fresh eating. Fruits are usually between 1-2″. ‘California Dreaming’ originated with rare fruit grower Cliff England and has become a popular cultivar among collectors and home growers.
Che General Info
Che trees are dioecious, meaning that there are male plants and female plants. The varieties that we sell as well as some others out there produce fruit even without a male tree around. When a Che plant bears fruit with no male plant around the fruit is seedless. If a male plant is around, it is said that the fruit will have 3 to 6 small brown edible seeds.
In the West Virginia area the fruit ripens in the fall. The ripe fruit slightly soft and is a deep reddish-dark pink color. The fruit ripens as early as mid-summer in warmer southern climates. The fruit size is cultivar dependent. The taste is generally like a cross between a fig and watermelon but there are some subtle differences between cultivars. The fruit generally ripens for up to a month and once ripe it has a good shelf life.
The tree will generally form into the shape of an umbrella. Some of the leaves look like green duck feet. If planted on its own rootstock it sends up lots of suckers and becomes shrubby. For this reason, it is usually grafted on Osage orange rootstock. This allows the plant to form a nice single trunked tree that usually does not grow larger than sixteen feet tall.
Be sure to check out our other great plants for sale at Great Escape Nursery.
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Sorry, we do not ship plants. We will only be selling plants from our nurseries in Maryland and West Virginia. Pease see our “Contact Us” page for more information.