Singleton tells of unusual Asian fruit that grew in Eliska and Monroeville

Akebia fruit.

(For decades, local historian and paranormal investigator George “Buster” Singleton published a weekly newspaper column called “Somewhere in Time.” The column below, which was titled “Vine from the Orient thrives in Monroe soil” was originally published in the May 18, 1972 edition of The Monroe Journal in Monroeville, Ala.)

The Akebia (Ake’bia) grows wild in the Far Eastern countries of China, Korea and Japan. The name Akebia, in Japanese, means running vine that bears fruit. This vine grows well in the Far East because of the climate, and mostly the soil conditions. Strangely enough, it will also grow in parts of Monroe County. One of these places is around the Goren Scott home at Eliska. Also, this rare vine is adapted to the soil of Monroeville.

Miss Frederica McClellan was the daughter of Dr. George McClellan, a resident of Philadelphia, Pa. Miss McClellan met and later married Thomas C. English. They moved to Alabama and Eliska sometime before the Civil War. Prior to their wedding, one of Miss McClellan’s relatives made a trip to the China mainland and brought back a cutting of the Akebia vine. When the English family moved to Alabama, they had in their possession a piece of the original vine that came from China.

The Akebia grows very rapidly. It has unusual but lovely blooms. The bloom comes early in the spring, and after the bloom comes the small sausage-shaped fruit. This fruit is about two and a half inches long and can be eaten.

Orientals prepare this fruit much the same way that we prepare small sausage for frying. They split the Akebia fruit in half and then fry lightly. The fruit is cooked just long enough so as to brown the split side. When cooked, it is very tasty when served along with other vegetables, I am told.

The climate does not have much effect on the Akebia. It is a hardy vine that grows quite large. The soil is the deciding factor as to whether the Akebia will or will not grow. In our part of the country, the Akebia vine stays green year-round. In the colder climates of the Far East the vine will die down with the cold weather, only to sprout again when warm weather returns.

Mrs. Goren Scott states that the original vine, which grows at their Eliska home, has been pruned away many times, only to sprout up again and bloom as beautiful as ever.

This strange and beautiful vine has traveled many thousands of miles from its native soil in the Far East. Like many other species of both plant and mammal, it has grown roots deep in the soft warm soil of Monroe County, as if telling the world that it is here to stay.

[The column above was accompanied by a photo by Singleton that bore the following caption: Akebia vine grown in Monroe County. Although the plant originated in the Orient, it appears to grow well here.]

(Singleton, the author of the 1991 book “Of Foxfire and Phantom Soldiers,” passed away at the age of 79 on July 19, 2007. A longtime resident of Monroeville, he was born to Vincent William Singleton and Frances Cornelia Faile Singleton, during a late-night thunderstorm, on Dec. 14, 1927 in Marengo County, graduated from Sweet Water High School in 1946, served as a U.S. Marine paratrooper in the Korean War, worked as a riverboat deckhand, lived for a time among Apache Indians, moved to Monroe County on June 28, 1964 and served as the administrator of the Monroeville National Guard unit from June 28, 1964 to Dec. 14, 1987. He was promoted from the enlisted ranks to warrant officer in May 1972. For years, Singleton’s columns, titled “Monroe County history – Did you know?” and “Somewhere in Time” appeared in The Monroe Journal, and he wrote a lengthy series of articles about Monroe County that appeared in Alabama Life magazine. It’s believed that his first column appeared in the March 25, 1971 edition of The Monroe Journal. He is buried in Pineville Cemetery in Monroeville. The column above and all of Singleton’s other columns are available to the public through the microfilm records at the Monroe County Public Library in Monroeville. Singleton’s columns are presented here each week for research and scholarship purposes and as part of an effort to keep his work and memory alive.)