As commented, one of the little pleasures in life is to learn the name of an unknown plant or tree. Yet another little pleasure, almost as pleasing, is to remember the name of the person who gives it to us. The seedling of this jabuticaba tree (Myrciaria caulifora) (image) was given to me by Carlos Godinho and his wife, Marilha Godinho, OBYGN specialist, here in Santarem. The source was a tree in their back yard. That tree has since been cut, for what reason I don't know. In the meanwhile, my jabuticaba tree has grown to a height of 2.5 meters and it's producing fruit in small quantities. As the scientific name implies, the fruit grows on the trunk and larger branches of the tree. They look much like black grapes; so much that the tree is often referred to as the Brazilian Grape tree. I remember the first fruit it produced, a single fruit. And I took pleasure in eating that fruit. The next year it was producing 20-30 "grapes" at a time but it's seldom that the birds leave any fruit for us human beings. The tanagers and flycatchers are quick to get to them as soon as they begin to ripen. As the tree gets older and larger, it'll produce buckets of fruit. In order to get this kind of production, it's necessary to keep the trunk as free of branches as possible. As you can see in the image, I've kept it as clean and smooth as baby skin.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Jabuticaba
As commented, one of the little pleasures in life is to learn the name of an unknown plant or tree. Yet another little pleasure, almost as pleasing, is to remember the name of the person who gives it to us. The seedling of this jabuticaba tree (Myrciaria caulifora) (image) was given to me by Carlos Godinho and his wife, Marilha Godinho, OBYGN specialist, here in Santarem. The source was a tree in their back yard. That tree has since been cut, for what reason I don't know. In the meanwhile, my jabuticaba tree has grown to a height of 2.5 meters and it's producing fruit in small quantities. As the scientific name implies, the fruit grows on the trunk and larger branches of the tree. They look much like black grapes; so much that the tree is often referred to as the Brazilian Grape tree. I remember the first fruit it produced, a single fruit. And I took pleasure in eating that fruit. The next year it was producing 20-30 "grapes" at a time but it's seldom that the birds leave any fruit for us human beings. The tanagers and flycatchers are quick to get to them as soon as they begin to ripen. As the tree gets older and larger, it'll produce buckets of fruit. In order to get this kind of production, it's necessary to keep the trunk as free of branches as possible. As you can see in the image, I've kept it as clean and smooth as baby skin.
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As a native Brazilian livingin the US, it is a pleasure to see the picture of your jabuticaba tree. It was always one of my favorite fruits and I haven't had a taste of one in years. It sure brings back memories. I know that jabuticaba likes the company of other jabutica trees. It helps with crosspolination. You will yeld a lot more fruit if you add a couple more trees nearby.
Good luck and thank you for sharing it.
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