Myrciaria Madness and Eugenia Mania

[roblack]

Hello Everyone! Wanted to start a thread showcasing the various rare eugenias and myrciaria many of us are collecting.  Lots of speculation going on, please share your experiences.  Hopefully, some of these actually are as good as they sound.

It is important to remember with all these “new” varieties and species, there could be considerable variability in fruit quality and other characteristics. The 1st mango I tried was not good. Some have been bad, even when eaten at the right time. It is important to not be too quick to judge. With time and selection, who knows how good some of these newcomers may be.

Big thanks to Bellamy Trees, Anderson Tropicals, and other forum members and collectors who are sharing all of this new plant material.

Happy day today, noticed these sprouts of eugenia sp. purple plum (Bellamy) rising up for the equinox.







Seeds always create anxiety for me, and prefer obtaining seedlings, but sometimes that's all that's available and rare seedlings are crazy expensive.  I am sure we have all run up some auctions on each other.

[brian]

I've got a whole bunch of these.  A number of new eugenias are flowing for me now, I'll hopefully get to try a half dozen new fruits this spring. 

The myrciaras have really pretty, tiny leaves.  Do the leaves stay tiny as they grow?  They seem like they would make amazing bonsais, with small leaves and small bright round fruit.

The tendency of pre-germinated eugenia seeds to show up looking shrivelled and dead, and then push new roots and shoots, is still hard to get over.  I don't quite get how a dry dark brown or black root suddenly grows a new white tip, but I am glad they are resilient.  They do seem to croak when they already have green stem or even leaves on arrival, though. 

The myrciara seeds have been reliable with germination, too, but I don't think they have been coming pre-germinated.

[gardenGnostic]

I have a few of these, I'm most excited for Myrciaria sp. "Pastora" which is a real pretty little plant with tiny glittering leaves with pink edges. Myrciaria sp. "Canelada" looks a bit more ordinary foliage-wise and the fruit isn't as hyped up, but its bark is starting to peel and I'm sure it'll look as awesome as the pictures eventually.

I've got two new baby Eugenia sp. "Jaguar Claw", and they're very weird looking plants. A friend bought the seeds for me, I never would have tried it otherwise.
Take a look at how the coloration on my oldest one's leaves has changed over time:




Here's its sibling, which started out tar-black rather than burgundy and matured to a more solid green (it's also a bit lumpy?):

[roblack]

Excited to see what's going on with your collection Brian! Getting flowers and fruits for the 1st time is one of the best things about collecting. Please share pics and updates here.

...and you are right about bonsai potential. E. ligustrina is excellent for bonsai, with tiny leaves and bright red fruit. Also, seems to root easily from cuttings.

Not many people I know of growing jaguar claw gardenGnostic. Even if it doesn't taste all that good, at least it looks cool (plant and fruits). I will post pics of my 2 soon. Also growing a little m. pastora, cute little leaves. I do believe leaves are larger on mature plants, but would be nice if they stayed micro.

Here is e. arrandanos:





Have another smaller one. Leaves are pretty big for a eugenia. Has a nice growth habit. I like the idea of a blueberry-like fruit; have failed at growing blueberries here so far.

[pineflatwoods]

I'm only growing the native ones right now. E. Axillaris and E. Rhombea. Axillaris- has a small black berry that is slightly sweet- I leave it for the birds. Rhombea hasn't flowered or fruited yet. I'll try to post pictures later. I'm still looking for E. confusa- the latter two are very rare in S.Florida- mostly being found only on North Key Largo, and scattered locations in the Caribbean

If I have success, I'll try growing some of the other rare S. American ones. I like the very slow and bushy growth habit of these plants.

[Julian R]

Here's a couple I quickly snapped pics of this morning.  I've got a bunch of other species out there that I can add later.

E. Burkartiana:



The older growth has some spider mite damage. There's another one in a pot next to it. 2/3 Seeds have made it this far.  The one in ground took 28 degrees briefly when that arctic blast came through. They make absolutely stunning rainbow colored growth when it first pops out.

E. Anthropophaga:



These guys are incredibly strong plants.  I have one out in the ground thats taking full sun.  It looks burnt up but I think once it starts raining regularly it will explode.  I have about 5 more in pots.  Germination rate and growth rate on these are high, similar to Uniflora in that regard.

E. Caipora:



Just potted these guys up.  They're all root at the moment... expecting a bunch of green growth to pop out soon!

[SHV]

You’re not kidding about E. burkartiana being a real show stopper. Once they get going, the plant really takes off and the new growth is spectacular.  I’m planning to get her in the ground this spring and it seems to be handling direct sun ok, so far. 

[roblack]

Lovely Julian! We have similar taste in eugenias =)

Curious to hear about and see your FL native eugenias, PFW. We are into feeding the birds here too.

Funny SHV, up until recently would've disagreed about the beauty of burks, as mine were looking like crap. Spring (Miami Spring that is) has brought new growth, loving the burk:
 

[brian]

roblack your "e. arrandanos" photo isn't showing up for me.


All my myciaras look like this, I have a few different types but the plants look identical so far.



And the small leafed eugenias look really nice too, I assume "minutifolia" literally translates to "small leaf"

[Julian R]

Lovely Julian! We have similar taste in eugenias =)

Curious to hear about and see your FL native eugenias, PFW. We are into feeding the birds here too.

The only native Myrtaceae I have is the Simpsons stopper (I think used to be classified as a Eugenia but is now Myrcianthes?):





I also have a non-native Myrcianthes Pungens outside.  It's about 1.5 - 2ft tall now and looking a little trashed from our cold spells:



Some other Eugenia...

E. Pyriformis, should be the Sweet Uvaia:




E. Candolleana, in ground and a little burned from the cold last winter:



E. Repanda (black), got tons of these:



As for Myrciaria...

M. Cuspidata:



M. Floribunda (purple)



I have some larger fruited variety yellow jabo (m. glazioviana) and blue jabo (m. vexator) as well. But here's my random variety yellow jabo I rescued from Troy's Tropics a few years ago:

[pineflatwoods]

Eugenia rhombea - not happy with the cold, dry conditions or the sand I planted it in- this is a plant more at home in a tropical hammock with organic matter. These plants are very slow to establish- and are very thirsty- but need well drained soil. Greens and perks up in the summer- new growth is dark red.

E. axillaris dropped all its leaves- it's currently in a pot and needs to be planted. It's a little more forgiving. Flowers in late Spring- fruit mature late summer about the size of a large marble. Flowers and foliage in Spring and summer smell like old coffee grounds- pretty unique.

I'm pretty intrigued by everyone's plants. I always liked this genus, just never had time to invest on growing these from seed on a large scale

[K-Rimes]

Please excuse how most of these look, I have not had time to up pot, but hopefully will get to that in the next few weeks. They will FLY with fresh soil in new pots.


Couple Floridas


Anestor


Leitonii


Tenuipedunculata, I have another bigger one


Cerasiflora


Francavilleana


Squamiflora


Nutans


Longipedunculata


Subterminalis


Multicostata


Octocostata

[roblack]

WOW! Now we're getting going.

These are both supposed to be e. pruniformis, but they sure do look different to me:

Plant 1




Plant 2

[Jaboticaba45]

Nice to see everyone's eugenias! Here's an update on some eugenia tastes

Joe Hewitt has been fruiting some and has been trickling in taste reports also combined with Hapa Joe who tasted a lot in Brazil and other collectors.

Francivilla super astringent,
Leitonii more ornamental than tasting
subterminalis is also not good tasting
Caipora is also not good according to Joe...Farewell Fruit Farm ranks it pretty good though...may just be different selections

repanda black is amazing - shoutout Kelly
- like a good cherry no weird astringency...I highly recommend this one.

Of course, the reports are generalized, so there may be better selections out there. I encourage everyone to keep reporting what they fruit with taste reports. Eventually we can truly weed out the worst ones

But for me, something like Leitonii I plan on ditching soon.
-even the seed description from Brazil says they are not the best for eating so that says something LOL

I'll try to add more reports later, but this is it for now
It is beautiful though.

[roblack]

Info like that is actually what this thread needs too Ryan, not just pics. But if you got pics of happy and unhappy people sampling fruits, even better!

These were already posted in another thread, but wanted to add e. anthropophaga. Unfortunately, flowers dropped and no fruit yet.

[SHV]

This is going to be a huge thread at this rate!  I’m particularly interested in taste reports, time to flower, and optimal growth conditions.  If it tastes bad, I’m ditching it, even if it’s ornamental. 
Kevin- that’s a huge minutifolia!  Mine has never picked up growth speed.  Probably time to replace the soil. 
Here are a few Eugenia’s that I killed, I’m guessing because of less than ideal growth conditions in SoCA.  E. Cribata, E. nordestina (x2), E. sp sweet blackberry (from Bellamy).

[SHV]

One more for today…E. catharinensis. It took a little while to get going but it’s humming along now. My only beef is that the new growth is gold/light green rather than the spectacular pink in the photos online.

[gardenGnostic]

One thing I've noticed with my plants: Eugenia sp. "Verde da Amazônia" seems to be a variety of E. stipitata. The plants are pretty much identical as far as I can tell.

Also, going by the sellers' photos and descriptions, the very recent introduction Eugenia sp. "Viridisfructa" is probably the same species/variety as Verde da Amazônia. Sweet-sour, bunching green fruit, Amazonian, etc., nothing doesn't match.
I planted seeds of this one, but VdA took me a year to germinate so it could be a long time before I can compare the plants and say if there's any noticeable difference.

[brian]

This is going to be a huge thread at this rate!  I’m particularly interested in taste reports, time to flower, and optimal growth conditions.  If it tastes bad, I’m ditching it, even if it’s ornamental. 
Kevin- that’s a huge minutifolia!  Mine has never picked up growth speed.  Probably time to replace the soil. 
Here are a few Eugenia’s that I killed, I’m guessing because of less than ideal growth conditions in SoCA.  E. Cribata, E. nordestina (x2), E. sp sweet blackberry (from Bellamy).

I had a few cribratas and nordestinas and I think they all croaked at very small size, they seemed fragile.  The sweet blackberries are robust and I ended up with a bunch of them now all in 1gals.  I expect flowers and fruit soon, will report when it happens

[SDPirate]

E. Nordestina is hanging on by a thread for me.  It was doing okay up until last summer then dropped some leaves.  Winter made it drop more but then a few sprouted from the bottom.  I don't really know what is up with it, it's finnicky.

E. Complicata died on me, it just hated CA the moment it got here.

E. Sweet Blackberry is also sensitive, initially I took it indoor and it does not like that at all.  So I put it back outdoor in a shady spot and it has actually recovered nicely, very slow grower that one.

[BloomAndSprout]

One thing I've noticed with my plants: Eugenia sp. "Verde da Amazônia" seems to be a variety of E. stipitata. The plants are pretty much identical as far as I can tell.

How amusing, I was checking my plants earlier today and noticed the stark resemblance of my young seedlings, I thought the same thing.

[brian]

.

[roblack]

While it could've been its own thread, "All the Eugenias I've Killed Before," feel free to list casualties here too. Good to know what is easier and more difficult to grow.

I've killed a few:

E. Ubaia de Maranhao (Mango x Peach flavor) - tiny seedlings grown from seed. Never got over a couple inches tall.
E. Rostrifolia
E. Sellowiana
E. Supraxillaris (still have 1 growing)

...several.more losses. Wondering, how many of you feel a strong drive to replace plants that die?



Also, reluctant to throw out "dead" plants; every once in a while one bounces back from demise. This e. sellowiana still has flexibility in the stalk. Has been leafless for a year at least.

[Flgarden]

I got Eugenia pulcherrima. Second year.
Did not fruit. I find it very ornamental.
Beautiful large leaves. Always look green and glossy. No drying off or pests.
Did not drop a leaf during the winter.
Pic is as of today

[roblack]

More bloom pics from e. anthropophaga:







Probably 3 years old, but not sure.