Hi, it's not a cherry, the growing green fruits are already larger than any cherry I've seen. Also cherries don't all grow together at the tip of a single upright stem, cherries have individual hanging stems. This looks like some exotic that grows in very dry natural conditions, possibly a fig, does this description resemble any fig species? All the local cherries, nectarines and peaches stil have branches full of dark green leaves that will be around for months to come, this tree always loses its leaves by the end of June. It might not be a commonly grown fruit tree even for this area which seems to have every citrus and other fruit tree species that could possibly survive in this climate (which is a lot as long as you water them). Everyone please read my detailed opening description and think about possible exotics, one more thing, the person remembers being told when the fruit is ripe it turns brownish and they look like a bunch of flattened potatoes stuck to a stick! This has to ring a bell with somebody, it's just too unusual not to be readily recognizable. If you have any questions I'll try my best to help, guessing is free, at least if you give me species to look up I'll instantly be able to tell if it's the same tree. Thanks.

I knew the humidity would be the enemy here :( how long were you able to keep them before they die? and also were they fine during spring or fall temps? I read in one of the comments @ DG that one guy from Texas couldn't keep them alive either until he got a really good tip on how to make them thrive, by watering/soaking the tree fern's trunk. He said he did about a gallon of water per day and the tree did amazingly.

Last year for the first time I tried pawpaw seeds. When I got the fruit I cut them open and took out the seeds and washed them off. I think I then put them in a moistened paper towel inside a glad sandwich bag. This would have been probably sometime around October I would think. They remained in the fridge until this spring when I took them out and planted them in flower pots. Nothing happened for quite some time, but then one day I noticed that I had two little green shoots above the soil!!!! Altogether I had 7 seeds to work with. One of my pots seemed to have had the soil disturbed by some animal. I checked in the soil and found another seed that was starting to sprout but this seed has so far not made an appearance above the soil. I don't know if some of these seeds have to make a taproot the first season and then poke above ground next season or not. I do believe though that it is important to keep them in a cold moist environment until you are ready to plant them out. I did not nick the seed coat. I hope this helps.

Wow I do believe you are correct. Though I searched I always seemed to find shrubs or trees that looked close but not quite. The property I am working on is very old mined property from back in the 1960s. It has left to self sow though I do believe that some trees were planted to fix the nitrogen in the soils after phosphate mining. There is such a variety of wildlife on the property and I am trying my best to maximize the plantings and removal of some exotics to produce the best concentration of bird and butterfly plantings within the 140+ acres. Thanks for you knowledgeable assistance.