Good morning fellow fruit addicts.
I spent some weeks exploring the Maranhao state of Brazil with a team of fruit addicts with Brazilian fruit expertise and have some amazing new fruit taste reports and seeds for sell. My main purpose was to find and document more Duguetia species and to continue to build relationships with people who truly make this happen… the locals.
I started my trip in the Cerrado again to collect more species and trade. I finally found a Calycina that I really really like. We are naming it after the sweet housekeeper that found this species on her property and had to share with the American
We then spent the rest of the trip searching the Atlantic rain forest and chapada biomes. It was majestic. The last day we became tourists and we to the Lencois marahensis dunes National Park. It was there.. on our day off that we made the find of the trip. Eugenia tinctoria …
www.hapajoesnursery.comSeeds will be shipped starting Jan 2, as my wife, full time teacher, and I are traveling for for a much needed break during the holidays.
Alto Pariaso CerradoEugenia calycina “Dalva”In truth, I haven’t tried any of the good varieties grown in the US, but have tried many many wild grown ones. They are a very bland species until this one. It may be a subspecies but this tastes like sour cherry pie. Very tasty. This grows in the native Cerrado behind Dalva’s house.
Campomanesia adamantium var “Amarillo”A top 3 tasting campomanesia that is very sweet with little acidity and little of the pronounced campomanesia flavor. Small bush like structure and drought tolerant in cool temperatures.
Annona coriacea “Orange Crush”This Annona has a light Crassiflora flavor and still somewhat grainy but had a pronounced orange flavor and was sweeter than previous tasting of coriacea. Still early in the season.
Maranhao Atlantic RainforestHapa Joe Favorite Duguetia aff marcgraviana “Lucenilde"We saw a kid selling blue fruit in a bag on the side of a road. Of course I stopped, us small business owners have ti stick together. What we thought was jaboticaba (woohoo) was actually jambolin (sigh). Still bought them but not my favorite. While we are there Huan starts talking to a local and he is so excited to start finding Duguetia he shows her a picture of “Ameju”. She points and talks in portugese and Huan starts doing a goofy happy dance (I really need to get this on film) And says to follow him. We turn the corner along a long dirt path and a medium tree FULL of Duguetia Marcgraviana “lucenilde” very sweet papaya and melon flavor. No strange or weird flavors. Wonderful melon aroma. Nice flesh and was told they get much bigger as the rainy season progresses. Named after the sweet old lady who pointed us in the right direction.
Duguetia aff echinophora Bruno sp Maranhao
Duguetia marcgraviana
Duguetia echinophora Buritiensis
Bacuri Platonia insignisA very large seed small flesh but creamy and very very very aromatic relative of the Garcia family. If you like the smell of truffles you will love this fruit. Banana flesh with custardy flavor. The yellow parts inside the rind is also cooked ane used to make a superfood. Grows in the chapada at elevation but even at elevation in the rainforest it doesn’t freeze so frost hardiness has not been tested. Without a greenhouse proceed with caution.
Talisia esculentaIf this fruit had more flesh it would be a must have for soapberry fans like lychee and rambutan. More tropical and sweet with much less flesh with a semi sticky fiber that sticks to the seeds. Very difficult to clean!
Bruno Lima Favorite Campomanesia aromatica var PretaSmall deep black color when ripe and extremely tasty. Has the pronounced campomanesia flavor in a jelly like flesh that is really sweet and no acidity.
Mouriri guianensisSweet finishes with a mouth drying tannic affect. Jelly like fruit. We found this along the fence line in a cattle field. The farmers kept it for a reason and there were no fruit or seeds on the ground thanks to the chickens and animals.
Eugenia Caipora Found throughout the regions we were exploring. The animals must love it as it was distributed throughout the region, unlike Eugenia klotzchiana which was found in only one small area and in patches. The best way I could describe this fruit is a spicy zesty slightly acidic loquat. Unripe fruit has a bitterness around the skin that dissipates with ripeness.
Murici Byrsonia crassifoliaAmazing sweet fruit that was one of my favorites until you smell the blue cheese finish. The locals love it and make juice from it and eat from hand but I can’t get past the cheesy aftertaste.
Corderia sessilis tamarind Yup tastes like tamarind pudding.
Corderia sessilis sweet No acidity very sweet
Myciaria sp cabinho restinga Found in the same area as the above Myrciaria. This species however has different foliage and produce dark blue berries with a long stem . Dwarf and ornamental with edible sweet berries.After consulting with Seedshhunter, we think it is related to Myciaria sp Iguatu Preta but something different.
Duguetia cf macrophylla
Pouteria sp “Pao de paca” Sapotaceae
Eugenia patrissii DolceThis Eugenia has a seed that is fuzzy like Camu Camu and a tasty very similar to Camu Camu round the seed but the rest of the flesh has a very Surinam cherry like flavor. Quite good.
Huan Shuma favorite Pouteria macrophylla “Cutite”Have you ever eaten banana taffy taffy and thought, “wow, that is so artificial that tastes nothing like bananas”? The next more relevant question is, “Did you like it?”
The artificial banana flavor actually is based on the flavor of a banana species that is almost extinct due to a fungus. It used to be one of the major types of bananas grown until the fungus wiped them out and we found the Cavnedish current banana was mostly immune to the fungus. What does this have to do with this fruit? It tastes exactly likely creamy banana taffy. Fully ripe fruit have no bitterness and is very sticky and sweet.
Chrysophyllum marginatumThe native range of this species is Bolivia to Brazil and N. Argentina. It is a shrub or tree and grows primarily in the seasonally dry tropical biome. Very sweet and tasty but little flesh. The flavor however is top quality. If someone can cultivate a flesh producing hybrid of this species will have a winner, otherwise ornamental and edible.
Diego Techera Verde Center favorite Eugenia tinctoria
This will be a must have. Tastes like blueberries and mint. The locals know and love this fruit and report that it gets much bigger and sweeter in the middle of the rainy species. We originally thought it was a Myrcia and when we sent to verify the collector started to freak out. This is one that is very difficult to find and is a top tasting Eugenia.
Pouteria durlandii Abiu mirimABIÚ-MIRIM comes from the Tupi Guarani language and means “Fruit Bicuda” and the adjective mirim means small fruit. It is also called: Abiu kid, Bapeva small, Aça ferro and Abiuzinho da mata.
At Sitio Frutas Raras, they plant thesuffers from frost, but young specimens produce fruit every 2 years.
Seedlings: The seeds are oblong (longer than they are wide) with a brownish and smooth bark and a scar along its length. They are recalcitrant (they lose their germination power if they are dried), so they should be planted as soon as they have been pulped, in individual packages measuring 7 cm wide and 22 cm high, filled with an organo -sand substrate , placing 2 seeds per package that will germinate between 20 to 45 days, thinning is done when the plant is 10 cm high, eliminating the weakest plant. The development of seedlings is moderate, reaching 20 to 30 cm in height with 10 to 12 months of life. The seedlings formed by seeds begin to produce 5 to 6 years after planting.
Chrysophyllum argenteumCharacteristics: medium to large tree, grows from 3 to 5 m in open environments and from 6 to 15 m in the middle of the forest. The plant bears fruit abundantly in full sun, but water should not be lacking during flowering and fruit formation. It begins to bear fruit with 4 to 5 years depending on the climate and cultural practices.
The fruits are large and rounded, with a greenish color even when ripe, the pulp is translucent and has a great flavor, somewhat reminiscent of cream with a touch of abiú . This rare and tasty fruit cannot be missing from your orchard collection! The plant is very ornamental because of the rusty golden leaves on the back. The flowers are apicultural and the fruits also feed birds and mammals. It is a very promising species to plant commercially because of the flavor and durability of its fruits.
Myrciaria strigipesNOMENCLATURE AND MEANING: UBANAXICA OR MANAXICA comes from the Tupi Guarani but the etymology has not yet been discovered. It is also called Cabeludinha da Praia and Cambucá da Praia.
Origin: It is endemic to the restinga forest from the south of Bahia, Espírito Santo and Rio de Janeiro. Brazil. The fruit is a globular berry 2 to 3 cm in diameter, shaped like a tire with a light yellow and thin skin when ripe, involving 1 or 2 seeds in a sweet and sour gelatinous pulp.
Uses: Fruiting from October to December. The fruits are delicious to be consumed in-natura and can be used to make juices, sweets and ice cream. The tree is ornamental, the flowers are melliferous and it is an ideal species for urban afforestation of streets, squares and parks. It is a rare species and needs to be cultivated to be preserved.
Eugenia cerrasifloraOrigin: Native and endemic to the Atlantic forest along the coast and to the semi-deciduous highland forests, occurring in the states of Minas Gerais, Bahia, São Paulo, Paraná and Santa Catarina, Brazil. More information at the link: The fruits are subglobose or cylindrical, measuring 1.5 to 1.8 cm long and 8 mm to 1.4 cm wide, with a thin red skin surrounding a reddish gelatinous pulp that covers a rounded grayish seed.
Uses: Fruiting from August to September. Very important species as an apiculture, as it flowers at the end of June and July, providing a lot of nectar and pollen to several species of bees, native or not. The fruits have pectin-rich pulp and ripen in August and September and are used by bees both for food and for building their nests. The birds also look for it, because when they mature there is little food. For human consumption, harvest the very red ones and let them reach the point for another 2 or 3 days. With the pulp you can also make a delicious jelly. The tree cannot be missing from gardens and reforestation projects.
Randia feroxFruits in May to July and sometimes in August. The fruits are tasty and taste like bitter chocolate with coffee and are very pleasant for consumption in natura. The tree is deciduous (losing its leaves at the end of winter, flowering without leaves) and small in size and therefore serves very well to be grown in large gardens and squares in places where people stay away from the thorns of the plant. This species cannot be missing in reforestation projects, as the plant is very rustic when in weak soils and in full sun and its early production of fruits feeds the faunagenerally.
Eugenia beaurepairianaINGÁBAÚ or UVAIA DO VISCONDE, and the species name was given in honor of Viscount Henrique de Beaurepaire-Rochan. It is also called uvaia-rambutan because of the rough, hairy texture of the skin and the much better flavor!
Origin: Native and endemic to the Atlantic Forest along the coast, occurring in the states of: São Paulo, Paraná, Rio de Janeiro and Santa Catarina, Brazil. More information at the link: \ The fruit is globose to elliptical, orange when ripe, 1.5 to 4.5 centimeters in diameter, velutinous, prominent glands visible as warts when the fruit is very hairy; the pulp is juicy, thick and sweet, enveloping 1 to 3 seeds.
Uses: Fruiting from November to February. The fruits are similar to the common uvaia, but are sweeter and more flavorful. They can be consumed in natura, and also serve to make juices and ice cream. In the past, fruits were harvested from wild trees and were part of the table of high society, mainly viscounts. The flowers have great beekeeping potential. The fruits attract numerous species of birds.
Eugenia tenuipedunculataWe call the SPECIES OF RED FRUITS (E. aff. [Similar to] tenuipedunculata) CAMBUCÁ-PITANGA because the plant has leaves very similar to cambucá and red fruits that resemble pitanga. AND THE OTHER SPECIES OF OBLONG PURPLE BLACKENED FRUITS (E. tenuipedunculata -type) of PITANGA-CAJÚ because of the resemblance of the fruits with the cashew fruit in formation.
Origin: The red fruit species originates from the semi-deciduous forest above 500 m altitude and may even be a new species; and the species with purplish fruits is original from the Atlantic rainforest, where it occasionally appears. It inhabits the states of São Paulo, up to Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. : Fruiting from October to December and sometimes February. The fruits are delicious to be consumed in natura or used to make juices, sweets, filling cakes and ice cream. The tree is ornamental and great for urban afforestation and the flowers are melliferous. This species cannot be missing from a fine collection of Brazilian wild fruits.
Topic: Seed drop: Pouteria, Eugenia tinctoria (WOW), Bacuri, Pitomba (Talisia), Campo.. (Read 1611 times)