PLINIA EDULIS

 

POPULAR NAME: CAMBUCÁ OR CAMBUCABA

 

MYRTACEAE

 

 

 

 

INDIGENOUS NAME: Cambuci comes from the Tupi-Guarani and means "fruit of nurse or suck" because the pulp must be sucked skin.

 

Origin: Zone of the coastal Atlantic Forest, Brazil

 

Characteristics: The tree reaches heights of 5 to 10 meters (17 to 33 feet), with dense and rounded crown, leaves are simple and lanceolate, the upper side is glossy, 12 to 17 cm long and by 3 to 4 cm wide. The white flowers are single or clustered in the stem.

 

Planted in the site of Frutas Raras: November 2001, the bloom and fruit have not yet occurred.

 

Tips for cultivation: Slow-growing tree that resists low temperatures (to -4°C (25°F)), and grows at altitudes above 500 m (1,667 feet), although fruiting in sea level along the coast where the climate is hot and rainy. The soil should be deep, moist, neutral, with sandy or clay formation (red soil). You must plant at least 2 plants for better production. The cambucá is very demanding on water.

 

Propagation: Seeds rounded, large, purple and recalcitantes (germinative power loses in 20 days) to germinate 40 to 120 days, the seedlings grow slowly, enjoy shaded environment for forming for at least 2 years before planting. The fruit begins in the age of 8 to 12 years.

 

Planting: Can be planted in full sun and in forests with large trees well spaced. Space 6 x 6 m (10 to 20 feet). Add to the hole 1 kg of lime and 1 kg of ash and 8 liters of organic matter. Water every fifteen days during the first 3 months if water is lacking. After this a garden hose provides with drip in times when no rain and especially during the bloom and fruiting.

 

Cultivating: Making only forming pruning of the crown and remove branches that were grown from the base of the trunk or interior branchens which are crossing the crown that must be well ventilated to bear fruit. Fertilize with organic compost, may be (6 liters) poultry litter + 50 g of NPK 10-10-10 doubling that amount every year until the 3rd year.

 

Uses: The fruit has a taste like papaya and mango together, and ideal for use in-natura.                                                                                                                                                                                   

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

 

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

 

 

 

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