For the last two yrs I have found a round variegated fruit on the ground at the ranch.
It is dark red and tan in color (mostly red) and varies in size, 5/8 to 3/4 of and inch.
Its always been found on the ground in a heavily wooded area and I have never been able to locate the source.
I've mostly oaks and ash trees, soil ph is high and can be rocky.
I cut one open just now and it is yellow inside but turned brown in short time. Maybe 15-30 minutes.
Yes, I had to tasted it... bitter.
Any clues?

I'll try to post a pic of one.

Try coyote melon. Or a related species within Cucurbitaceae in the genus Melothria.

Get a picture of a whole one and a picture of one sliced lengthwise and another sliced cross-section.

Quick, poor image...

The upper two halves have been sliced open since the first post.

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Crabapple?

I didn't know that Richard Simmons was lost!!!

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Soapberry? I've been told me there are soapberry trees on the ranch.

I can't find anything online that resembles this thing.

I found a few more today. Ask a few local 'old timers'.

Still a mystery...

Those look to me like insect galls. There are several species of insects that lay their eggs on tip or flower buds of oaks (yes, oaks have flowers). As the insect develops it's waste acts like a growth hormone on the plant forcing extremely rapid cell growth and division in the epidermis. Since the growth and divisions are equal in all directions with respect to the maggot's waste, the gall is usually spherical. Mature galls have a tough epidermis, abundant aerenchyma that soon degrades leaving open space with scattered radially disposed vascular bundles attached to the epidermis and to the encysted maggot located in the center of the gall.

Just a guess.

never eat anything that you do not know what it is

You're kidding...right???

I touched my tounge to this thing.

Seriously, I believe it is a fruit of some sort. I hope...

Maggot's waste... whew.

At least it wasn't Richard Simmons.

Galls in North America are edible, IIRC (better check on that before you harvest them for food). They come under that class of food we tend to think of as "emergency". I ate gall's collected in the Amazon that were part of the (extremely varied) diet of the local indigenous folks. The galls that they selected were rather cheesy with a sharp tannic acid flavor. I assumed that the cheesiness was due to the insect and the tannin was ude to the plant. In the tropic rain forest tannins are common as compared to alkaloids. The theory is that in terms of bioenergetics, alkaloids are more expensive (they're proteinaceous, requiring nitrogen) while tannins are built of sugars and thus, simple bonds of mostly C, H & O. These require less ATP's to produce and so, are produced abundantly. The tannins are what give the Amazon tributaries their black, light-absorbing color.

You are absolutly correct. Its appears to be an oak gall.

Closer inspection reveals small magots.

Nature never ceases to amaze.

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Dude.. you licked one!