ovule may have passed the stage where it is receptive. If fewer than about 35 ovules are fertilised, the fruit may not be able to develop and will fall prematurely. Frost can damage both unopened and open flowers when the temperature falls below -1.9 °C. The flowers at the base of the strig are more protected by the foliage and are less likely to be damaged.

In midsummer the strigs of green fruit ripen to edible berries, very dark purple in colour, almost