At one time his son, Chris Whitman, had a nursery in FL.
Correct it was his son Chris. It was located south of Miami heading towards the Redland / Homestead area.
Check out this cool flyer I stumbled upon.
Hi All, going way back about 30 years ago, there was a Bill Whitman that had a nursery that shipped tropical fruit trees to Ca. to include jaboticaba and only labeled as jaboticaba, does anyone have any idea what he was selling at the time?? Regards Patrick
If it’s the same Jaboticaba that William “Bill” Whitman had labeled in his personal catalog in his book, it’s either a
Plinia cauliflora or Myrciaria jaboticaba, both show Grafted, no further info found aside from a comment I read in one The Rare Fruit Council International (RFCI) Miami, Tropical Fruit News magazines from the 90s, in which he calls it a (Jumbo). Saw that this week...
It would be hard to determine the exact one they were selling and where they were propagating from. I also checked a few RFCI Yearbooks & Fruit Lists...everything in the 1970s / 1980s doesn’t list a cultivar. Hope this helps.
Do you have a 30 year old specimen purchased from Whitman? Mind sharing some photos?