CORDIA GRANDIFOLIA

POPULAR NAME:  BABOSA DOCE, BABA DE BOI AND GUANHUMA AMY

BORAGINACEAE

 

 

INDIGENOUS NAME: Guanhuma, comes from the Tupi-Guarani and means "sticky fruit" because of the gelatinous and gummy aril.

Origin: Semideciduous forest (which lose their leaves in a time of year) of the Atlantic Rainforest from Minas Gerais to Paraná, at the borders of streams and wet woods.  Brazil

Characteristics: Tree with straight trunk with greyish white bark and dense canopy. The tree grows 4 to 8 m (13 to 26 feet) tall.  The leaves are simple and rough to the touch inside the leaf, measuring 12 to 28 cm of length. The flowers are campanulate (with the bell shape) and grown from terminals corymbs  (where the bunches of flowers are from different points of the base or shaft and end in the same time).

Planted in the site of Frutas Raras: September 2003, blossomed in 2006, bear fruit in 2007. 

Tips for planting: Tree of moderate growth with white flowers, ornamental, ideal for parks, reforestation and urban parks. Can be grown throughout the country, because resisting the frosts of up to -3°C (27°F), adjusting to any type of soil, which drain the rain water or even clay soils, exposed by flooding on the edge of rivers.

Propagation: The seeds are hard and lose their germinative power in 6 months, they germinate when planted immediately in 40 to 75 days. The seedlings grow faster, enjoy shaded environment for forming. The fruit begins in the age of 3 to 5 years, depending on soil and cultural treatments.

Planting: Can be planted in full sun or mixed for use in reforestation of timber and fruit to feed various birds. In the garden is to plant in one space of 6 x 7 m (20 to 23 feet) in deep holes with enough organic matter. Water with 10 liters of water per week during the first 2 months and cover the surface of the soil with dry grass or sawdust to keep the humidity.

Cultivating: Make only form pruning of the crown and remove branches that were grown from the base of the trunk, if you want to grow the tree or if you prefer to produce a rounded crown, can let the terminal bud when the plant is under 2.50 m (8 1/3 feet) of pruning height and made of modeling. Fertilize with organic compost, can be (8 liters) poultry litter + 50 g of NPK 10-10-10 doubling that amount every year until the 4th year. 

Uses: The ripen fruits acquire the white coloring to stern and clear, sticky sweet and acidulated. The fruit can be consumed in-kind and used to make brew of great taste.  

Flowering in the site of Frutas Raras: November to January.

Fruiting in the site of Frutas Raras: January to March.

 

 

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