I'm 4 Imbe

[FlyingFoxFruits]

Imbe is what it's all about! Underrated garcinia fruit, with nice sweet sour taste, and takes cold, drought, flood...and I love the way they look!, I know Ohiojay thinks they look like a mess! LOL

they set fruit when isolated, but not as much when together.

I will have loads of fruit if I get luck!  I have 4 nice flowering trees!!!

Anyone else enjoy these fruits? or grow them?

PS don't look too far into the background! you'll see my arsenal of jaboticaba soldiers!  All pruned to fruit to the moon! LOL

[TropicalFruitHunters]

 The imbe is not on my "best of plants" list at the moment...having 4 trees and at least 3 of them are definitely male.  The remaining tree of the 4 did put out a solitary female last year and I anxiously await it to start blooming.  The two largest, of course, are male and one is nearly covered with blooms.

Your plant looks good but those blooms look like all males to me.  Hopefully I'm mistaken with one of those.

[edself65]

I hope he has some male and female flowers! I am hoping to try Imbe fruit this year!

Ed

[Cookie Monster]

I had a giant one (trunk as thick as my thigh). It flowered profusely but usually produced about 2 fruit every 3 years (it was probably male). I ended up yanking it. The rootsystem was very wimpy despite the fact that it would shoot up suckers 25 feet away from the tree. The flavor was decent, though a bit too tart for his fruit cowboy.

[fruitlovers]

I have 3 imbe trees, 2 are males and one is female. The female has made many hundreds of fruits, can get really loaded on good years, guess plenty of pollen with 2 males around.    It's not one of my favorite fruits. But i have an inkling that the imbes we have in the USA are not the best of the lot. Apparently in Africa there are some quite good ones. So i would say we need to introduce better material into USA, or maybe some lucky grower already has some that is not from experimental station, like most of the other plants?
Adam's flowers on the photo are too immature to tell whether they are male or female.
Here is a closeup of a female flower:

Here is a close up of male flowers:

[FlyingFoxFruits]

My trees make both male and female flowers, 3 of 4 have set fruits in past, 2 of those made hundreds!! Imbe usually makes male and androgynous flowers on same plant...have never seen a plant with only male flowers.  All of mine have both.  Maybe I'm mistaken,or lucky...

[HMHausman]

I'm growing it...but I cannot honestly tell you why.  I bought it somewhere, long ago.  It is a good sized tree that was blown over in Hurricane Wilma.  I never uprighted it and now it is still in a prone position. growing nicely, flowering profusely and almost never fruiting.  I have had about 5 or so fruits on it at varying times over the years.  I have tasted this fruit years ago and really didn't find it to my liking.  I planted one during my non-selective phase.  I did and do think the tree is very nice looking.  A while back I got some mangosteen budwood from Puerto Rico and Murahilin and I tried to graft the mangosteen onto the Imbe.  We didn't get any to take.  If anyone wants this tree, they are welcome to it.  But, you have to dig it up and cart it away. Don't worry, as someone said above, the roots do not run all that deep.

Harry

[fruitlovers]

My trees make both male and female flowers, 3 of 4 have set fruits in past, 2 of those made hundreds!! Imbe usually makes male and androgynous flowers on same plant...have never seen a plant with only male flowers.  All of mine have both.  Maybe I'm mistaken,or lucky...

Yes you are lucky. My males are 100% male, not a single fruit has set on either one of them. Some trees do have hermaphrodite flowers on male trees, but when they do it is usually just a very few hermaphrodites. So your trees sounds very unique to me.
Imbes have very weak root systems and easily fall over. Have had to stake mine. This plant has a lot of ornamental value, even if you don't like the fruit. The shape of the tree is very unique. Also it seems very widely adapted: extremely drought hardy, but will also grow here in the middle of a rainforest. I was very surprised at how well it does here! Main down side is that it is super slow growing.
Oscar

[FlyingFoxFruits]

All 4 plants I have make both male and female flowers!  How could I get odds like that??  Mine did come from grimals estate I believe...but i have to confirm this with my source...I know grimal had an eye for the  best of the best varieties of all plants he grew!!!  Hope mine are special!!!  They seem to be, ive seen them set fruit by themselves. 3 of 4 so far.  One just bloomed heavy last year for first time, hope it sets more now that i have more trees and flowers...bees love em.

[fruitlovers]

I think of all the well known garcinias the trickiest to fruit are imbe and cherapu, due to seperate male and female flowers (dioecious). But garcinias have a strange sex life, and most are not truly dioecious, either producing occasional hermaphrodite flowers or fruiting asexually, and making apomictic "seeds", like the mangosteen.
If you take some very good close up photos of your flowers you can get a better idea of what's really going on.
Oscar

[FlyingFoxFruits]

i count 3 androgynous flowers, in the midst of all of these males....this is one of my trees that sets fruit by itself.

they are hard to see with my phone picture, but they have a green ball that is to become the fruit, and a white tip, and or brown tip (depending on age of flower)  One has brown tip to upper left, two have white tips, one in middle, and one to lower left..all are hard to spot...I will have to get better pics for the folks who are going to debate me...but please remember the abiu flowers!  I'm not wrong...there are both male and androgynous flowers on these plants, I am 1000% certain...Ive eaten fruit from them!

[fruitlovers]

Yup can see the hermies very clearly amongst the males. Picture is clear enough. Think those trees would be worth propagating clonally. Are your plants from seeds or how were they grown? If you plant from seed you may or may not get same high percentage of bisexual flowers.
Oscar

[Cookie Monster]

Rawk on!! You got a pretty nice tree there, cowboy! My Giant Imbeast would give me maybe 2 or 3 fruits on a good year (despite millions of flowers). If I remember correctly, the flowers are really fragrant.

i count 3 androgynous flowers, in the midst of all of these males....this is one of my trees that sets fruit by itself.

they are hard to see with my phone picture, but they have a green ball that is to become the fruit, and a white tip, and or brown tip (depending on age of flower)  One has brown tip to upper left, two have white tips, one in middle, and one to lower left..all are hard to spot...I will have to get better pics for the folks who are going to debate me...but please remember the abiu flowers!  I'm not wrong...there are both male and androgynous flowers on these plants, I am 1000% certain...Ive eaten fruit from them!

[FlyingFoxFruits]

Yup can see the hermies very clearly amongst the males. Picture is clear enough. Think those trees would be worth propagating clonally. Are your plants from seeds or how were they grown? If you plant from seed you may or may not get same high percentage of bisexual flowers.
Oscar

Thanks for words of encouragement Oscar.

They are all seed grown. 

and as for seeds of hermies being true to type, read lost crops below:

There is also, however, the possibility that imbe is one of those rare plants that can clone itself through its own seeds (a process known in botany as apomixis). In various places several generations of trees grown from seed have yielded plants exactly like their parents…with no apparent variation among all the progeny. Also, it is said that female flowers that have been bagged (to keep all pollen out) can produce normal fruits and set viable seed.3 This pollenless fruit production obviously has important implications for selection—some trees will produce apomictic seeds, which grow true-to-type, while other trees produce sexual seed, which express various gene blends. The apomixis would greatly aid selection and virtually guarantee clonal purity. In addition, male plants would not be needed in any planting"


I have some seedstocks that I will graft some onto. and will attempt airlayering this year.

Maybe we can make a horrible name for the cultivar?  Like "Ru Paul" 

Watch out!  If I ever get to name a fruit it will be a disgrace!

LOL

[fruitlovers]

Yup can see the hermies very clearly amongst the males. Picture is clear enough. Think those trees would be worth propagating clonally. Are your plants from seeds or how were they grown? If you plant from seed you may or may not get same high percentage of bisexual flowers.
Oscar

Thanks for words of encouragement Oscar.

They are all seed grown. 

and as for seeds of hermies being true to type, read lost crops below:

There is also, however, the possibility that imbe is one of those rare plants that can clone itself through its own seeds (a process known in botany as apomixis). In various places several generations of trees grown from seed have yielded plants exactly like their parents…with no apparent variation among all the progeny. Also, it is said that female flowers that have been bagged (to keep all pollen out) can produce normal fruits and set viable seed.3 This pollenless fruit production obviously has important implications for selection—some trees will produce apomictic seeds, which grow true-to-type, while other trees produce sexual seed, which express various gene blends. The apomixis would greatly aid selection and virtually guarantee clonal purity. In addition, male plants would not be needed in any planting"


I have some seedstocks that I will graft some onto. and will attempt airlayering this year.

Maybe we can make a horrible name for the cultivar?  Like "Ru Paul" 

Watch out!  If I ever get to name a fruit it will be a disgrace!

LOL

Same apomictic behavior and hermie flowes has been observed in Garcinia xanthochymus and some other garcinias (see garcinia chapter in Prosea book). This is exactly what i tried to point out to you on yahoo rarefruit group when i was hypothesizing same may be the case with cherapu (Garcinia prainiana) to explain why some people have reported that lone cherapu plant have fruited. So you see it is not all that improbable at all ! You might very well have to eat your words. 
Oscar

[FlyingFoxFruits]

I already ate my words on yahoo!! thanks for reiterating the fact! 

I believe you!

Tooty fruity on Rudy!

whop boba loobob a whop bam BLOOM...

Now find me a stick of budwood from that cherapu bucko! or airlayer would be even better (not sure how that works)!!

I have some $$$ for the lucky duck that finds it!

that is worth cloning!!!

[FlyingFoxFruits]

Rawk on!! You got a pretty nice tree there, cowboy! My Giant Imbeast would give me maybe 2 or 3 fruits on a good year (despite millions of flowers). If I remember correctly, the flowers are really fragrant.

Thanks pardner!

flowers smell good, but I like jabourtacourbis better!

[fruitlovers]

I'm hoping that at least 1 out of my 9 cherapu trees exhibits same bi-sexual behaviour as your imbes! How you got 3 out of 4, or maybe all 4 imbes to do that is pretty amazing. Maybe you are using a special Nigerian charm, a lucky rabbit's foot, or what? Or maybe you're right and Grimal had a good eye for exceptional plants to reproduce?
Whatever the reason, we should all toss our imbe plants and just reproduce ones from Adam's lucky find! From your taste description it seems also that yours are better tasting than mine!!
Oscar

[FlyingFoxFruits]

Oscar,

Maybe I'm crazy, I'll have to check, but I'm almost certain both of my mostly male flowering trees have quite a few hermie flowers....

I may be mistaken, but I know the one tree I took pics of, definitely came from source that got plants from Grimal (Still need to confirm if imbe was from grimal, I know i got M spirito santesis from same source which came from grimal...btw, thanks for helping me ID that fruit! its been a mystery since he introduced it back in the early 80's or 90's! not sure when he brought it here..but M spirito santesis is grimal variety, and I've never seen the link between the two, until we figured it out together...more so u! Thanks again!)

I will keep you posted if this tree performs exceptionally this year, making lots of fruits...

and don't go by my judgment of taste! I rank all garcinia fruits highly! intermedia, hombroniana, xanthochymus, mangostana, livingstoneii...all of them are great to me...so mine probably taste no better than yours....I just am biased for all garcinia fruits!

They have a nice acid sweet taste...but i know it would be a bit too acid for some who love sweet only!  I do find them sweeter than hombroniana and intermedia though for sure.

[FlyingFoxFruits]

now looking at my previous posts and some pictures of oscars and mine...and reading lost crops, and lorenis book, Brazilian fruits...


This is my theory...

Flowers that are female are androgynous usually (like oscars female flowers, you can see stamens and anthers on female flowers.)  For appreciable fruit set you need two plants, which will be either androgynous or mostly male.  SO its best to find two androgynous plants, so each pollinates each other, and sets fruits...

I think I've got a knack for picking androgynous plants...the flowers seem to form differently...larger looking at first, I think. 

So now I think I have 3 androgynous plants, and one that's mostly male (which I can't recall if it has set fruit ever)...I will have to look at blooms as they open next week...hope it hase more hermie  blooms!

So I don't think I have anything too special...maybe I do though?  most likely not...

I just picked a bunch of female (really androgynous though) plants, and got lucky that way!

[fruitlovers]

Suggest keeping a close eye on your imbe plants to see which, if any, has highest proportion of hermi to male flowers, then you duplicate that plant to sell/trade.
Oscar

[FlyingFoxFruits]

Suggest keeping a close eye on your imbe plants to see which, if any, has highest proportion of hermi to male flowers, then you duplicate that plant to sell/trade.
Oscar

Thanks for advice wise one!

I will do just as you say, and keep you posted!

thanks!!!

[fruitlovers]

now looking at my previous posts and some pictures of oscars and mine...and reading lost crops, and lorenis book, Brazilian fruits...


This is my theory...

Flowers that are female are androgynous usually (like oscars female flowers, you can see stamens and anthers on female flowers.)  For appreciable fruit set you need two plants, which will be either androgynous or mostly male.  SO its best to find two androgynous plants, so each pollinates each other, and sets fruits...

I think I've got a knack for picking androgynous plants...the flowers seem to form differently...larger looking at first, I think. 

So now I think I have 3 androgynous plants, and one that's mostly male (which I can't recall if it has set fruit ever)...I will have to look at blooms as they open next week...hope it hase more hermie  blooms!

So I don't think I have anything too special...maybe I do though?  most likely not...

I just picked a bunch of female (really androgynous though) plants, and got lucky that way!

It's not quite that simple, at least as far as garcinias go. I think garcinias have one of the most complex pollination mechanisms of any tropical fruit genus. Maybe that is why a monograph hasn't been done on the garcinias since the late 1890's? It's a difficult one to tackle. A flower may be hermaphrodite yet be either functionally male, or functionally female. That is while the correct parts seem to be there but they are sterile...just like the sterile ovaries in the so called male cherapu flowers. But other plants or individuals may have hermaphrodite flowers were both male and female parts both function. So there can be many different possible combinations. To top all that there can be plants which produce fruits with no pollination at all (apomictic).
Anyways, you won't find out if you have anything special until you make closer flower observations. But you're good at that!   
Oscar

[FlyingFoxFruits]

Oscar,

with that said...your flowers don't look like the anthers are fertile...the tips look brown, not yellow, with pollen...

Thanks for the excellent insight per usual

[fruitlovers]

Oscar,

with that said...your flowers don't look like the anthers are fertile...the tips look brown, not yellow, with pollen...

Thanks for the excellent insight per usual

That will just depend on the time and stage you photo the flower.
Oscar