When you think of everyday produce, the usual suspects—tomatoes, bananas, potatoes, onions—come to mind. Yet there’s a whole hidden pantry of once‑popular fruits and vegetables that have slipped out of modern consciousness. In this roundup of 10 forgotten fruits, we travel back in time to meet the flavors that once ruled tables, gardens, and markets before being eclipsed by newer, flashier options.
Why These 10 Forgotten Fruits Still Matter Today
Beyond sheer curiosity, these lost edibles teach us about shifting agricultural trends, cultural preferences, and even ecological fragility. Some fell victim to the rise of high‑yield crops, others to changing tastes, and a few simply vanished because their habitats disappeared. By revisiting their stories, we gain insight into how food history is shaped and how we might revive forgotten flavors for future generations.
10 Taliaferro Apple
Thomas Jefferson, famed founding father and avid horticulturist, cultivated a remarkable apple at his Monticello estate known as the Taliaferro apple (Malus pumila). Jefferson boasted roughly a hundred trees bearing this variety, describing it as one of the juiciest apples he ever tasted. The fruit measured just one to two inches across, sporting a white skin streaked with red, and was prized for making crisp cider.
Unfortunately, the orchards that nurtured the Taliaferro apple vanished after Jefferson’s time, and with them the cultivar disappeared. Although occasional claims of rediscovery surface, none have been scientifically verified, leaving the Taliaferro apple firmly in the annals of lost horticulture.
9 Medlar
The medlar (Mespilus germanica) enjoyed prominence in ancient Greece and Rome, prized for its sweet, late‑season fruit. The tree’s dark‑green leaves measured three to six inches, turning vibrant hues in autumn. Its blossoms—pinkish‑white—gave way to round, brown fruits that, when fully ripe, softened into a spiced applesauce‑like texture.
Shakespeare famously likened the fruit’s shape to an “open arse,” and the French dubbed it “dog’s backside,” which contributed to its decline in popularity. Though still employed by a few artisans to craft jelly and liqueurs, the medlar has largely faded from contemporary markets.
8 Earthnut Pea
The earthnut pea (Lathyrus tuberosus) is a perennial native to the Mediterranean basin, stretching up to six and a half feet tall. Its oval, pointed leaves and clusters of pink, purple, or white flowers conceal underground tubers—brown, about two inches in diameter, and rich in starch.
Historically, Native American peoples harvested these tubers, and during World War II they even served as a potato substitute. Though sweet and nutty, the earthnut pea was eventually outcompeted by the faster‑growing, larger‑yielding potato, leading to its quiet disappearance from mainstream agriculture.
7 Murray’s Plum
First recorded in Texas’s rugged Davis Mountains in 1928, Murray’s plum (Prunus murrayana) remains an enigmatic, critically endangered shrub. Reaching up to 16 feet, it forms dense, thorny thickets, flaunting delicate white blossoms and hairy leaves that once surrounded tiny red fruits speckled with white dots and coated in wax.
Despite its striking description, no fruiting specimens have been observed for nearly a century, rendering the plant a botanical ghost. Its extreme rarity and erratic flowering make study difficult, and it now exists primarily in dusty field notes rather than thriving orchards.
6 Fat Hen
Often dismissed as a weed, fat hen (Chenopodium album) thrives in fields and gardens worldwide. Its upright habit, diamond‑shaped leaves, and clusters of small white flowers are often dusted with a powdery coating. While birds and insects readily consume it, humans once valued it as a nutritious green.
Belonging to the spinach family, fat hen cooks down like its leafy cousin and was a staple for lower‑income families before cultivated greens took precedence. In Europe it helped combat scurvy, and Native Americans employed it for skin and respiratory ailments, underscoring its overlooked health benefits.
5 Tagua Nuts
The tagua nut, harvested from South American tagua palms (Phytelephas macrocarpa), is famously dubbed “vegetable ivory.” These palms live up to 180 years, producing nuts after about a decade of growth. The nuts range from cherry‑size to grapefruit‑size, hardening over four to eight weeks into a material resembling elephant ivory.
Beyond its decorative uses—jewelry, sculptures, chess pieces—the immature nut contains a sweet, milky liquid that is edible. Though once a popular raw material, factories switched to plastics for cost reasons, leaving tagua nuts a niche product for those seeking sustainable, exclusive alternatives.
4 Ansault Pear
Cultivated in a French nursery and first bearing fruit in 1863, the Ansault pear (Pyrus communis) earned a reputation for exceptional quality. Larger than typical pears yet comparable in size to the common yellow‑green variety, it offered a buttery flavor, soft texture, and a uniquely pleasing taste.
Unfortunately, the tree’s irregular shape made it unsuitable for commercial orchards, prompting growers to abandon it in favor of more standardized varieties. By the twentieth century, the Ansault pear had vanished from cultivated landscapes, remembered only in historical accounts.
3 Skirret
Before the potato’s dominance, skirret (Sium sisarum) was a staple root crop throughout Europe. Its flavor hovered between parsnip and peppery carrot, and its white‑flowered clusters crowned carrot‑like roots. Originating in China, the Romans were the first Europeans to record its use.
Skirret served both culinary and medicinal roles—enhancing digestion, supporting urinary health, and even, according to folklore, neutralizing snake venom. Yet the potato’s larger yields and easier cultivation relegated skirret to the background, now surviving mainly in hobbyist gardens.
2 Tava
The tava tree (Pometia pinnata) spans Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, Vietnam, Tonga, and Niue, reaching heights of 40 to 70 feet with a broad canopy up to 50 feet wide. Its flowers develop into the tava (or matoa) fruit, which ripens over three months into a reddish‑black, soft‑yet‑tough edible berry.
Indigenous Pacific islanders once relied on this fruit as a seasonal staple, appreciating its quick growth after harsh conditions. However, its brief fruiting window and competition from higher‑yielding trees led to diminished cultivation, making the fruit a rare treat for those who venture to the islands today.
1 Silphium
Silphium (Silphium integrifolium) was a celebrated Roman herb, revered as a miracle cure and culinary enhancer. Romans consumed it as a contraceptive, a remedy for fevers, chills, nausea, headaches, and sore throats, and even used its delicate blossoms to craft perfume.
The plant’s stout roots, stumpy leaves, tiny yellow flowers, and flavorful sap made it a versatile condiment—sap drizzled over food, stalks roasted or boiled, roots dipped in vinegar. Its exclusive growing requirements and overwhelming demand led to overharvesting, and by the first century AD the species was driven to extinction.