Eugenia brasiliensis
The size of the plant and of its bag can vary a little from the photograph — each one grows at its own pace. We keep them as consistent as we can.
Overview
Grumichama is the cherry of Brazil's Atlantic rainforest: round fruits, dark red or black, with thin skin and soft pulp that melts in the mouth, mild and sweet-tart. Nearly all its flavor is in the skin. It's a very ornamental tree with dark, glossy leaves and reddish new growth, and it has become rare in the wild. A collector's fruit that also makes the garden beautiful.
Culture
- Habit
- Evergreen Shrub
- Height
- 8.00 m
- Growth Rate
- Slow
- Pollinators
- Insects
- Cultivation Status
- Cultivated, Ornamental, Wild
It prefers a humid tropical climate and does best in the lowlands; it doesn't like long dry seasons. It grows in full sun or partial shade, in slightly acid soil rich in organic matter, sheltered from strong wind. It grows slowly and can start bearing at 4 years. In the tropics it flowers and fruits over several months, and the fruit ripens just a month after the flower. Planting distance: 5–10 m.
Edible Uses
The fruit, 3–5 cm across, is excellent fresh, straight from the tree, and is also made into jams and jellies. It has little pulp relative to the seed, and keeps its sepals at the tip like little "rabbit ears".
Medicinal
In Brazil a leaf or bark infusion is used as an aromatic, astringent diuretic and for rheumatism.
Traditional uses for information only. Not a substitute for advice from a health professional.
Agroforestry
A climax fruit tree of the medium stratum. With its narrow crown it has been used as a pioneer in reforesting degraded soils, and it also makes living fences.