10 Forgotten Fruits & Vegetables

Tomatoes, bananas, potatoes, and onions are some of the most popular fruits and vegetables in our world today, but that wasn’t always the case. Fruits and vegetables that you have never heard of were once the most important and tastiest in their parts of the universe. Some were forgotten after new options were introduced, while others completely vanished for different reasons. Here are ten forgotten fruits and vegetables that were once popular.

Related: 10 Bizarre Foods from the Ancient World That People Still Eat

10 Taliaferro Apple

Thomas Jefferson was not only a founding father of the United States of America but also a devoted gardener. He grew several fruits and vegetables at Monticello, his estate in Virginia, but he also enjoyed experimenting with them. Jefferson cultivated the Taliaferro apple (Malus pumila) on the property and had about 100 trees producing the apple. He claimed it was one of the juiciest apples he had ever eaten.

The Taliaferro apple was one of two apples that Jefferson grew to be used to make cider. The apple was about one to two inches in diameter and was white in color with red streaks. The trees and orchards are no longer on the land, and it is believed that the apple variety was lost with those trees. Some people have claimed to have found the Taliaferro apple, but it has never been verified.^[1]

9 Medlar

Medlar was an important fruit in ancient Greece and Rome, but it’s practically unknown now. It was a slow-growing tree that produced dark green leaves around 3-6 inches (7.6-15.2 cm) long, which changed colors in the fall. The fruit was a sweet treat during the fall and winter months, especially before sugar became a commodity. The medlar tree (Mespilus germanica) produces a pinkish-white flower that will transform into a round, brown fruit. When ripe, the fruit becomes soft and resembles a spicy applesauce.

The fruit was seen as unflattering for its appearance that resembled an “open arse,” as Shakespeare said in Romeo and Juliet. The French even have a nickname for the fruit that translates to “dog’s backside.” The fruit was once popular in Britain and is still used by some to make jelly and liquors, but it has mostly been forgotten.^[2]

8 Earthnut Pea

The earthnut pea (Lathyrus tuberosus) is a perennial plant native to North Africa and Europe, particularly the Mediterranean region. The plant can grow 6.5 feet (2 m) long with oval-shaped, pointy leaves and pink, purple, or white flower clusters. It produces edible tubers that are brown in color and can grow up to 2 inches (5 cm) in diameter. The tubers are connected to the stems and are located underground.

The tubers were once an important food source for Native American tribes, and they were even used as a substitute for potatoes during World War II. They are high in starch and were used to make flour or to help thicken soups. They have a sweet, nutty taste and can be eaten raw or cooked. The potato ultimately led to its demise because it grew faster and larger. The potato was the more practical choice for most people, leaving the earthnut pea behind.^[3]

7 Murray’s Plum

First documented in the rugged Davis Mountains of Texas in 1928, Murray’s plum (Prunus murrayana) has since faded into obscurity—so much so that no one has seen it bear fruit in nearly a century. This critically endangered shrub, native exclusively to Texas, can grow up to 16 feet (5 m) tall and often forms dense, thorny thickets from sprouts at its base. It blooms with delicate white flowers, and its hairy leaves surround what was once described as small red fruit, speckled with white dots and coated in wax. But sightings of the fruit remain the stuff of legend—never again recorded after its initial discovery.

Part of what makes Murray’s plum so mysterious is the plant’s elusiveness. It’s extremely rare in the wild and notoriously difficult to study due to its limited range and erratic flowering. Its endangered status has placed it on conservation watchlists, but even dedicated efforts have yet to witness a fruiting specimen. For now, Murray’s plum remains a botanical ghost—known more from dusty field notes than any living presence. It’s a quiet reminder of how easily a piece of nature’s bounty can slip into memory.^[4]

6 Fat Hen

Fat hen (Chenopodium album) isn’t just a chicken that needs to find a good diet; instead, it’s a plant that grows in a variety of fields and gardens. It can even be considered a weed. The plant grows upright and features diamond-shaped leaves with small, white flowers, and it appears to be covered in a white substance. The plant is actually a good food source for birds and insects, but it was also a popular food for humans in the past.

Fat hen is a wild green that is a member of the spinach family, and it cooks down the same as spinach. The vegetables were nutritious for lower-class families, but more cultivated crops have pushed fat hen aside. In Europe, it was used to help treat scurvy, and the Native Americans used it for skin irritations and respiratory issues. It may be overlooked today, but it offers several health benefits that may be worth looking into.^[5]

5 Tagua Nuts

The Tagua nut, also known as vegetable ivory, comes from a variety of palm trees known as Tagua palms (Phytelephas macrocarpa). The palms are indigenous to South America and live up to 180 years old. After about ten years, they bear Tagua nuts, which can be as small as a cherry or as big as a grapefruit. After the nuts fall from the trees, they turn hard in about 4-8 weeks and resemble the hardness of elephant ivory. They have been used to create items such as necklaces, sculptures, pipes, figurines, and chess pieces, but the nut is also edible.

Before the Tagua nut matures, it contains a milky sweet, creamy liquid that is edible. In an episode of Man vs. Wild, Bear Grylls explained how one could survive on Tagua nuts in the rainforest. While the Tagua nut was once a commodity to manufacture items, many factories switched to plastics for financial reasons. The Tagua nut is no longer widely used, but it is still utilized for those searching for something more exclusive.^[6]

4 Ansault Pear

The Ansault pear (Pyrus communis) was cultivated in a French nursery and began bearing fruit in 1863. The pear was considered one of the highest-quality pears available. While it was larger than most types of pears, it was close in size to the common yellow-green pear and had a “buttery” flavor. It had a pleasantly soft texture and a unique taste, but the tree that bore the fruit eventually disappeared.

The Ansault tree had an odd shape that made it difficult for commercial orchard use, forcing people to stop growing the tree and its fruit. In earlier days, farmers would have kept the trees and harvested the near-perfect pear, but the world was moving toward commercial orchards. The trees were either forgotten or cut down to make room for other fruit trees. By the 20th century, the Ansault had vanished.^[7]

3 Skirret

Before the potato was introduced, skirrets (Sium sisarum) were one of the primary root crops eaten across Europe. The taste was somewhere between a parsnip and a peppery carrot. Its appearance was also similar to a carrot, with small white flowers growing in clusters. They originated in China, but the ancient Romans first recorded the vegetable. Skirrets have also been used medicinally for digestive and urinary issues, and some believed they had powers to cure venomous snake bites.

The root vegetables were mainly used as food, especially in several sweet and savory dishes across Europe. They were used in salads and were best eaten uncooked and peeled. Skirrets have a sweetness that makes them perfect for being tossed in fritters. Then, the potato entered the picture in Europe, and the rest was history. Industrial-scale crop farming favored the potato due to its larger size and higher yield. Gardeners around the world have started growing skirret in their personal gardens, but it has mostly become a forgotten root vegetable.^[8]

2 Tava

The Tava tree (Pometia pinnata) can be found from Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, and other places such as Vietnam, Tonga, and Niue. The size can vary from under 40 feet (12 m) to almost 70 feet (21.5 m) tall, and it has a wide canopy with a length of around 50 feet (15 m) long. It produces a flower that can potentially turn into fruit, known as tava or matoa fruit. The fruiting process can take up to three months, and it is edible when ripe. The fruit will turn reddish-black with a soft texture, but the fruit will still be tough when not developed.

People who live in the Pacific islands near subtropical forests can benefit from the tiny fruit, but it was once a staple for indigenous people. The fruit was easy to grow and could recover quickly from harsh conditions, but it has a short fruiting season. If the fruit isn’t picked quickly, bats and birds will start to raid the tree. Other fruit trees yielded a higher amount and lasted for a longer season, which slowed the growth of the tava tree. If you want to indulge in the delicious fruit, you’ll most likely need to head to the Pacific islands.^[9]

1 Silphium

Silphium (Silphium integrifolium) was an herb widely used by the Romans as a contraceptive, to cure ailments, and to season foods. They believed it was a miracle plant that could cure fevers, chills, nausea, headaches, sore throats, aches, and so much more. A monthly dose of silphium the size of a chickpea was also taken as a contraception. The delicate blooms from the plant were even used to create perfume.

The plant consisted of stout roots, stumpy little leaves, small yellow flowers, and oozing sap that the Romans found delicious. The sap could be poured over food like a condiment, the stalks could be roasted or boiled, and the roots were dipped in vinegar. The Romans absolutely loved silphium—a little too much. The plant could only be grown in a certain location due to rainfall and soil, and they were using more of it than they could grow. By the end of the first century AD, the plant was harvested to extinction.^[10]