Grumichama - eugenia brasiliensis

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Grumichama - eugenia brasiliensis

By goodadmin | June 20, 2007

by steve stamos

The grumichama is a subtropical fruit tree specimen native of the coastal areas of Southern Brazil. It is a medium size reaching a height of 10 meters but some times seen as a large tree up to 15 meters. Generally a slow grower can be grown in orchards or home gardens as bush where it makes a fine garden specimen, valued as much for its aesthetic elegance as it is for its sweet cherry like fruits. It can survive temperatures of -3º C

Grumichama is a fruiting member of the Myrtaceae family, slender, erect with heavy foliage of oblong deep green leaves 10-15 cm long and 5-6 cm wide. The flowers, borne singly in the leaf axils, are 2.5 cm wide and with white petals. Only four weeks after flowering, the round and long-stalked purple-black fruits are ready to harvest. The red fruit has a sweet juicy pulp and looks much like a cherry. Fully ripe grumichamas are pleasant to nibble out-of-hand while half-ripe fruits are made into pie, jam or jelly.

Trees perform well in a tropical or subtropical climate. A sunny to semi-shaded position is preferred. Soil should be slightly acidic, moist, deep, fertile, sandy loam. Trees are adversely affected by a long, dry season. Propagation is mostly by seeds which remain viable for several weeks and germinate in about a month. Cuttings and air-layers are also employed, and grafting is easy. Fruiting begins when the plants are 4 to 5 years old. Fruit fly is the main pest of the fruit tree.

Grumichama
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