JACARATIA DODECAPHYLLA

FAMILY OF CARICACEAE

 

 

 

NOMEMCLATURE AND SIGNIFIANCE: JARACATIÁ-MAMÃO comes from the Tupi word meaning "fruit of the soft stem or stalk." Also referred to as Mamão do mato, Jaracatiá Branco (because of the pulp).

 

ORIGIN: Semi-evergreen forests of higher atitudes, is very rare in the states of Minas Gerais, São Paulo and Paraná, Brazil. More information in Portuguese at the link:

http://floradobrasil.jbrj.gov.br/2012/index?mode=sv&group=Root_.Angiospermas_&family=Root_.Angiospermas_.Caricaceae_DUMORT&genus=Jacaratia&species=&author=&common=&occurs=1&region=&state=&phyto=&endemic=&origin=&vegetation=&last_level=subspecies&listopt=1

 

NOTES: Botanists do not classify Jacaratia dodecaphylla as species, is currently classified as a botanical synonymy of Jacaratia spinosa. But in my opinion, strain characteristics, the leaves, fruits and seeds are a compelling basis for delineation and separation of the species. My conclusion is, to make a long overdue revision of the genus Jaracatia in Brazil..

 

FEATURES: Medium-sized tree, reaching 12 m in the forest, but in the culture not more than 5 m, the crown is open. The notoriously slim and straight trunk reaches a diameter of 30 to 50 cm at the base and the bark is dark purple when young arranged with sharp thorns or spines in groups of three. The leaves arise from 7 to 12 cm long petioles, the finger-like leaf blades contain 9-12 bare sheets of 1 to 2.3 cm in width and 5 to 8 cm in length, with a smooth margin and cardboard-like texture, rounded base and tip. The flowers are dioecious. The male flowers appear in axillary panicles as in male papaya, they measure 8 to 15 cm long and the female flowers appear singly or in pairs in the leaf axils, are stalked and 1.3 to 2.5 mm long, and wound cyclically twice. The fruit is an ovoid berry, which is 6 to 8 cm long and 4.5 to 5.5 cm in diameter, with a thin skin, which becomes orange when fully ripe, leads the creamy white milk, and contains many small light brown seeds.

 

Culture tips: It grows rapidly, reaches a height of 2 meters in the first year after planting, in the first year the shoots may die back even at freezing of -1°C, but the plant does not die and resprout again in the spring vigourosly. The plant prefers deep soils with sandy texture and rich in organic matter, with a pH between 5.0 and 6.5. It grows at altitudes of 600 to 1.00 m above sea level, where the average annual rainfall is between 600 and 1,200 mm. It starts from the 3rd or 4 Year after planting in fertile soils with the fruit. I recommend the planting of trees at least 3, so that a pollination takes place and a good fruit yield can be guaranteed with 100 to 800 fruits per tree. This kind and very resistant to frost, when it is older.

 

Propagation: The seeds are small and are able to germinate over a year if kept dry and clean in dark containers. I recommend sowing in boxes of 16 cm width, 20 cm height and 40 cm in length with rich organic matter substrate. Germination takes place after 30 to 40 days and the seedlings can be separated into individual pots when they are 10 to 15 cm high. The seedlings grow rapidly and can reach 40 cm with 5 to 6 months after planting. Propagation by cuttings from mature shoots with diameter of 3.5 cm can be done in greenhouses with high temperatures and humidity.

 

Planting: Culture in full sun, dig holes 50 cm in three dimensions at a distance of 5 x 5 or 6 x 6 m and fill 30 cm with 6 shouvels well mixed manure plus 500 g of lime and 1 kg of wood ash and leave for 2 months to act. The best planting time is from October to November and pour after planting with 10 liters of water every 15 days during the first year if it is not raining.

 

Culture: The plant does not need special treatment, remove only crossing and diseased shoots. The fertilization with organic compost is sufficient, it can scoop four poultry manure mixed well with 30 g NPK 10-10-10, the twice amount until third year, then only the simple quantity, distributed in the distance of 40 cm from the stem.

 

Use: The fruit ripe from February to April. the fruits have whitish yellow pulp, the taste is reminiscent of papaya and mango containing little latex, which can burn the lips and tongue in some sensitive individuals. Therefore only harvest the fruits when they are fully colored orange and eat them 3 or 4 days later, so that this effect does not happen again. Another delicious way to eat fruits roasting over coals as the Indians did. Can also be used to prepare juices and sweets. The trunk is used to make a sweet candy bar, so that the tree is becoming increasingly rare.

 

 

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