I have a grafted red Surinam Cherry. It's called "Ben's", as in it originally came from Ben Poirier. I think it was one of his seedlings. It's the sweetest fruit I have tasted so far. What is very interesting about this fruit is that it does not have the deep lobes that you normally associate with Surinam Cherries. I will post a pic later.
I've tried some of the black varieties like "Black Star" and expected them to be sweeter than mine, but have been disappointed. I just added another Surinam Cherry to my collection. It's a "Zill's Black" seedling that came out red. The fruit is huge and it too is sweet.
I talked to a long time grower of Surinam Cherries in California, and he told me that the same tree from year to year can taste different. I haven't experienced that with mine, but would like to hear if others have experienced this.
Joe, that is awesome! I would love to get a weight, measurement and Brix reading on this selection from Ben.
Nexxogen, thanks for the information! I had no idea there was a different species or subspecies of Surinam Cherry. I see that the leaves of that smooth skin variety is more pointy and elongated.
If I get a hold of that smooth skin variety, I would love to cross it with the JM Thick leaf and the Vermillion.
Simon
@joe_oc - I concur that taste can vary year-to-year, I know someone in OC who has been growing rare fruits for 30+ years and he has echo'd these remarks
The smooth/lacking ribs is NOT indicative of it being a E. Pitanga, E. Uniflora var. Dasyblasta also is generally ribless.. Ben himself on his site has stated these as E. Uniflora, I will however note that the leaves do look more like the E. Pitanga leaves.. but leaves can look different based on nutrition.
I believe this one you have is either of these:
"Eugenia uniflora - Surinam cherry - seedlings and grafted plants available. Grafted plants are "Lolita" and a couple of our own selections (one is "Sweet Orange" fruit almost 1.5",bright orange and very sweet, the other "Black Beauty" fruit almost 1.5" dark colored with an intense flavor)"
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http://encantofarms.com/poirier.htmlbtw, Ben has said he no longer has any of these grafted ones for sale at this time last I checked