Hymenaea courbaril

POPULAR NAMES: Jatobá do mato, Jataiva and Jutaí-açú

FABACEAE - CAESALPINOIDEAE

INDIGENOUS NAME: Jatobá, comes from the Tupi and means "the fruit of hard shell." 

Origin: Semideciduous forest (which lose their leaves in a time of year) of the Paraná River basin and the Atlantic Forest from Minas Gerais to Rio Grande do Sul and the Amazonas Forest land, Brazil.

Characteristics: Tree with straight trunk and smooth gray bark, grows to 10 to 35 m high with globose and dense canopy. The leaves are composed of two leaflets with a shape that resembles half moon are bright and the texture is tough as leather. The flowers are coming out in corymb terminal panicles  (small cluster where the flowers come out from different points of the rod). Each flower is composed of 4 concave sepals, and brownish floccus on the back (covered by small) and 5 white petals.   

Planted in the site of Frutas Raras: November 2003, has not flourished yet.

Tips for growing: Tropical and subtropical plant that resist the frosts to -3°C (27°F), can be grown throughout the country, at every altitude; adapts to any type of soil, which drain the water well until the rain or sandy soils subject to flooding on the edge of rivers.

Propagation: Seeds are dormant when dry, when once planted, germinate in 40 to 60 days after soaking for 2 minutes in water with temperature of 80°C (176°F) and cooled in water and left at room temperature for 24 hours. The seedlings grow faster, enjoy shaded environment for forming. The fruit begins with 8 to 15  years, depending on soil and cultural treatments.

Planting: Can be planted in full sun or reforestation mixed use for the wood, so you should plant a row of eucalyptus and pine and a line of jatobá one year after the planting of the first that will cause the plant grows upright, avoiding the dense branching when the plant is grown in full sun. In the orchard plant in a space of 10 x 10 m (33 x 33 feet), water with 10 l  of water per week during the first 2 months.

Cultivating: Make only forming 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 remove the terminal bud and make pruning modeling every 2 years. 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 fruits of Jatobá is mealy and sweet pulp that can be consumed in-kind or used to make cakes, pies, jams etc.

Flowering in the site of Frutas Raras: Not yet occurred.

Fruiting in the site of Frutas Raras: Not yet occurred.

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