Mike- I know I am reviving an old thread but would love your input and/or list here, given your experience you may have tasted to most on here
It makes more sense to me to revive old threads rather than making new redundant topics. Not sure if there’s a forum policy about it though.
I’ve started collecting myrtles again, particularly Eugenias, after a several year pause. I’ve only tasted two so far: E. selloi (Moderately sour – decent out of hand – with a complex tropical flavor and a faint aftertaste resembling pitanga), and one of Miguel’s E. florida (decent flavor but scant flesh, poor pulp to seed ratio).
Others that haven’t borne for me yet are Red Grumichama, Orange “CORG”, Dasyblasta Pitanga, Candolleana, Sweet Uvaia and Cedar Bay Cherry (this last one bore one fruit, but I left it an extra day to ripen properly and it was promptly stolen, seemingly by a bird). I had an E. patrisii from Vitor that bore a tiny, good tasting fruit, but I killed it by neglect years ago... regrets... I haven’t seen any activity from Vitor in a long time, perhaps due to tightening restrictions from Brazil. These days, most of the exotic stock I’ve been seeing is coming in through Bellamy Trees.
I just answered another thread asking almost the same and said, "The best unifloras, yellow/orange grumis, dysentaria, candolleana, pyriformis x lutesens pitomba, lutescens, multicostata, sweet form of patrisii are some near the front of the quality line."
Some of the new ones Sallami is distributing might make the grade and CORG forms like good calycina are pretty good.
Pyriformis, selloi, cedar bay cherries are examples of species that should not be on anyones list.
I’ve been afraid to try E. dysenterica because of potential laxative effects. I’m surprised to see E. pyriformis among your rejects... is it the pulp ratio? The sour variant? I see you have its cross with E. lutescens, as well as E. lutescens itself. Where does the Sweet Uvaia fit into your scheme? With the coveted hybrid & species or with the rejected species?
I had recently thought to reject Pitomba entirely due to repeated reports of a ham-like aftertaste (big no-no for my palate), but I’ve also seen reports of excellent, aftertaste-free flavor, so I’m wondering if it would be worth it. Could it be, like Nelita E. calycina, there are clones with good taste and clones with poor taste? How would one track down seed from the best clones?
Any particular reason for rejecting selloi? Do you prefer sweet fruit? I prefer sweets, but I found it tolerably sour and interesting enough to warrant inclusion into the list of must-haves. I also didn’t notice any weird flavor, so I’d lump it in with the sour types more than with the acquired-taste oddballs (like the garlicky E. anomala or the hammy types of Pitomba).
What about Cedar Bay Cherry? I used to think it was a must-have from all the reports, but it recently occurred to me that it’s not the same to say “One of the better Australian fruits” as “One of the better Eugenias”. I’ve seen the former statement, but not the latter. My biggest fear is that it’ll have a poor pulp-to-seed ratio like E. florida.
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Crafting a list without direct experience is a struggle, but I trust the judgment of those who’ve tasted them, and generally go by consensus. I focus on the better-known species, and usually ignore the über rare types by default (although some may catch my interest aside from the act of listing the “must-haves”). Also, anything that has a poor pulp-to-seed ratio gets rejected by default, no matter how rave the reviews. The way I figure, the only way scant pulp could be justified in a Eugenia is if the seed is easily crunched without ill flavor... I’d treat it like a berry in that case, and eat it whole. Otherwise, they’re not worth giving prime space to.
With that in mind, my “Gotta catch ‘em all” list is as follows: Pitanga (resin-free types like dasyblasta), Cherry of Rio Grande (CORG), Grumichama, Candolleana, Pitangatuba, Sweet Uvaia, Arazá (for the sourness), and maybe Cedar Bay Cherry.
Among the rare species that have caught my attention are E. cribrata and E. beaurepaireana. Both are reportedly good-flavored, and both seem to have decent size and pulp ratio. The latter seems to me, though, like it might be redundant with the sweet uvaia. I also wonder what might have been with my E. patrisii...
What rare types catch y’all’s attention?
I know this is a duplicate from another message... but it seemed relevant...
My Garnet CORG/Calycina trees have been producing large yellow fleshed fruit with a very juicy Peachy/Apricot flavor with a hint of Pineapple... and no off-tase at all.
Kevin
Do you sell seeds/seedlings of Garnet?
