rounded at the stem end and pointed at the apex.  Mature, yellow fruits
reach a length of 40 centimeters (16 inches), a width of 20 centimeters
(8 inches) and a weight of 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds).  The skin is
smooth, thin and edible.  Commercially grown fruit is harvested at the
first sign of yellow color.  The flesh is whitish, juicy, acidic, and
low in sugar and has flavor overtones of strawberry, pineapple and
papaya; nicknamed the champagne fruit.  Fruit are seedless.  Fruit hangs
in clusters around the trunk.  The entire fruit can be consumed.  Fruits
are locally eaten only after cooking; consumed fresh with sugar
elsewhere.  Fruits also blended into drinks, preserves and pies.
Commonly used for making sorbets.

Bacaba palm:

A tall, thin, single-stemmed palm tree growing to 20 meters (66 feet)
tall.  Native to the Central Amazon region.  Grown throughout the
northern Amazon rainforest in lowland rainforests, the palm prefers
tropical conditions and an elevation up to 1,067 meters (3,500 feet).
The trunk is smooth, grey and ringed with leaf scars.  Tree diameter is
up to 30 centimeters (12 inches).  The palm contains a grayish-green
pseudo crown shaft measuring 4 feet (1.2 meters) tall.  The leaf crown
is shaped like a shuttlecock and contains 8 to 20 drooping plumose,
spirally arranged pinnate leaves that measure 5 to 6 meters (15 to 20
feet) long.  Each leaf contains hundreds of olive green linear pendulous
leaflets measuring 30 to 100 centimeters (12 inches) long by 3 to 7.5
centimeters (1.2 to 3 inches) wide.  Leaflets are brown and hairy on the
undersides.  Leaves are attached to 0.3 to 0.6 meter (1 to 2 foot) long
green petioles.  Inflorescence branches are 1.2 to 2 meters (4 to 7
feet) long.  Inflorescences resemble a horse’s tail.  Each
inflorescence contains approximately 200 pendulous creamy yellow,
reddish, or scarlet flowers that are borne in clusters of three,
containing one female flower and two male flowers.  Male flowers are
yellowish, pointed; contain 6 stamens and measure 0.6 centimeter (0.2
inch) long.  Female flowers are round and 0.6 to 0.8 centimeters (0.2 to
0.3 inch) in diameter.  Purple-black fruit is round, grows in clusters
on long branches, and measures 1.3 to 2 centimeters (0.5 to 0.79 inch)
in diameter.  The skin is thin, smooth, and contains a whitish bloom.
Pulp is oily and red or white in color.  In Brazil, the oily fruits are
used to prepare a wine called vinho-de-bacaba.  The edible fruit oil can
be extracted.  Fruit is harvested once the color changes from green to
purple-black.  Fruit are obtained by climbing the tree and cutting
bunches of fruit.  Tall trees have been cut down to obtain the fruit.
Fruit can only be stored for a few days.   So far, oil yields are too
low for commercial interest.

Bacaba-de-leque:

A tall, thin, single-stemmed palm tree growing 5 to 18 meters (16 to 60
feet) tall.  Native to northern central Brazil and the northeastern tip
of Bolivia to the Amazon River.  Grown on non-flooded soils in lowland
rainforests.  The light gray to white trunk is 30 centimeters (one foot)
in diameter and contains widely spaced dark rings of leaf base scars.
The grayish-green pseudo crown shaft is about 1 meter (3 feet) tall.
Erect and slightly arching leaves are plumose and pinnate.
Approximately 9 to 12 leaves are arranged in a single flat plane and
grow only from two opposite sides of the trunk.  This palm differs from
Oenocarpus bacaba by its opposite leaves.  Each leaf measures 3 to 5
meters (10 to 15 feet) long.  Petioles are less than 30 centimeters (1
foot) long.  Each leaf contains 40 to 130 pairs of shiny olive-green
drooping leaflets that are about 1 meter (3 feet) long and grow from the
rachis in different planes.  Inflorescences are reddish-brown and on 1
meter (3 foot) long flowering branches (rachises) that hang down.  One
palm contains 50 to 160 rachises.  The branches (rachises) contain
round, purple-black fruits that are 1 centimeter (0.5 inch) long.  The
skin is smooth.  Fruit pulp may be white or red in color.  In Brazil,
the oily fruits are used to prepare a wine called vinho-de-bacaba.  The
edible fruit oil can be extracted.

Bayberry, Red;

An evergreen tree growing 20 meters (66 feet) tall.  Indigenous to the
forests of central and southern Japan and China.  Grown in coastal
districts with warm, humid climates.  The canopy is full and broad.  The
bark is brownish-grey and rough with vertical wrinkles.  Obovate to
elliptic leaves are 5 to 10 centimeters (2 to 4 inches) long and
numerous near the ends of the branches.  Leaves remain on the tree for
12 to 14 months.  Both female and male flowering shoots contain 15 to 20
inflorescences that each bears 20 to 30 catkins.    Each catkin is made
up of 4 to 6 male or up to 25 female flowers.  Male flowers are bright
red, contain two stamens, form a corymbs surrounded by greenish-white
bracts and measure 0.7 to 3 centimeters (0.3 to 1 inch) long.  Female
flowers are in axillary, erect spikes and measure 1.2 to 2.5 centimeters
(0.5 to 1 inch) long.  Pollinated by wind.  Dark red, purple-black,
white or pink fruit is a globose to ovoid drupe that grows 1.2 to 3.0
centimeters (0.5 to 1 inch) in diameter.  The skin has a knobby surface
and is waxy.  The flesh is red.  Each fruit contains a cherry-like
stone.  Fruit are consumed raw and cooked.  The fruit has been used as a
food crop for 7,000 years.  Fruit is highly perishable.  The tree can
remain in production for up to 30 years.  The plant has many medicinal
purposes and is grown as an ornamental.

Bignay:

A shrubby evergreen bush or large tree.  Can vary from the size of a
shrub (3 to 8 meters or 10 to 26 feet) to the size of a large tree (15
to 30 meters or 50 to 100 feet).  Native to the lower Himalayas in
India, Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia to the Philippines and Northern
Australia.  Grown in tropical conditions in full sun or part shade.  The
tree contains wide-spreading branches that form a dense crown.
Dark-green, glossy, leathery leaves are alternate, oblong, pointed and
10 to 22.5 centimeters (4 to 9 inches) long by 5 to 7.5 centimeters (2
to 3 inches) wide.  Leaf petioles are short.  Flowers are tiny and
reddish with a strong scent.  Male flowers are produced in axillary or
terminal spikes; these flowers emit an odor resembling fish.  Female
flowers are in terminal racemes 7.5 to 20 centimeters (3 to 8 inches)
long.  Male and female flowers are produced on separate trees.  Fruit
are round or ovoid, 0.8 cm (1/3 inch) across, and occur in grapelike,
hanging clusters.  Fruits ripen unevenly from yellowish-green to bright
red and nearly black.  Skin is smooth, thin and tough.  The bright red
fruit juice stains the fingers and mouth.  Pulp is 0.3 centimeters (1/8
inch) thick and white.  The taste is subacid and slightly sweet when
ripe.  There is one stone per fruit.  Fruits are consumed both raw and
cooked; leaves are eaten raw and cooked; bark is used in producing rope.
 Leaves are used for medicinal purposes.

Bilimbi:

A medium-sized attractive tree reaching a height of 5 to 15 meters (16
to 50 feet).  Cultivated throughout tropical Asia, India, Queensland,
Australia, Central and South America, and the West Indies.  Grown in
tropical climates with full sun.  Closely related to the starfruit
(Averrhoa carambola).  This long-lived tree contains a short trunk with
many upright branches.  Compound leaves are clustered at the branch tips
and are alternate 30 to 60 centimeters long.  Each leaf contains 11 to
40 alternate or sub-opposite hairy medium-green leaflets that are ovate
to oblong in shape.  Leaflets are 2 to 10 centimeters (0.75 to 4 inches)
long and 1.2 to 1.25 centimeters (0.5 to 1.125 inches) wide.  Clusters
of 18 to 64 yellowish-green, purplish, orange-red, or dark red flowers
are small, fragrant, and five-petalled.  Petals are 1 to 3 centimeters
(0.4 to 1.2 inches) long.  Flowers are borne in small, hairy panicles
emerging from the trunk and oldest branches.  Gherkin-shaped fruit is
ellipsoid, obovoid or cylindrical and five-sided with a star-shaped
calyx at the stem-end and 5 hair-like floral remnants at the apex.
Mature fruits are 4 to 10 centimeters (1.5 to 4 inches) long and 5
centimeters (2 inches) wide.  Clustered fruits turn from bright green to
yellowish-green or white when mature and fall to the ground.  Fruit skin
is glossy to waxy, smooth, thin, soft and tender.  The flesh is green,
jelly-like, juicy and acidic to sour.  Each fruit contains several flat
seeds.  Fruits are consumed raw when prepared into a relish.  Juice is
prepared into drinks or used as a cleaning agent on metals.  Fruit is
used to deliver a tart tang to foods and beverages.  Due to acidity,
fruits are usually cooked and prepared into chutney.  Hundreds of fruit
can be produced from a single tree.  Fruit are picked by hand and must
be handled gently; keeping quality is only a few days.  More often,
found in the garden than cultivated as a crop.  Various parts of the
plant are used for medicinal purposes.

Borojó:

A tree that reaches a height of 3 - 7 meters.  Borojó is a dioecious
species.  The tree grows 2 - 3 m in the first three years; about 5 m
after 7 years and 7 m after 25 years.  The white male flowers occur in
clusters, while the solitary female flowers occur at the tip of
branches.  The fruit is a large globose, green berry that is 8 - 13 cm
in diameter when mature.  The epicarp is thick and smooth and then turns
dull reddish to brown when ripe.  Fruit development takes 8-12 months
with fruit maturation during two periods in April - June and October -
December The fruit pulp is white and hard, becoming fleshy brown as it
ripens.  The fruit has around 90 to 600 seeds, and it is
consideredmature ripe when it falls in the floor.

Breadnut:

A fast-growing tree reaching a height of 20 to 45 meters (66 to 148
feet).  Breadnut is native to Mexico and Central America and a canopy
tree of tropical rainforests.  The tree has a pyramid-shaped crown,
hanging branches, dense foliage, and thin, rough, grey bark with many
lenticels, white sticky latex, and a straight trunk with a diameter of 1
to 1.5 meters (3 to 5 feet).  Wood is yellowish white, yellowish bronze
or light brown in color.  The trunk may exude a yellow gum.  Glossy
green leaves are simple, alternate, ovate-lanceolate to elliptical in
shape, and 4 to 18 centimeters (1.6 to 7 inches) long by 2 to 8
centimeters (0.8 to 3 inches) wide.  Leaves contain pointed deciduous
stipules and 0.2 to 1.0 centimeter (0.08 to 0.4 inch) long petioles.
The tree is mostly evergreen, unless it is exposed to extremely dry
conditions.  The inflorescence is composed of a spherical head.  Each
head consists of male flowers surrounding a single female set of flowers
in the center.  Yellow male flower heads contain a rudimentary perianth
without a corolla and one stamen.  Female flowers are green, and contain
an inferior ovary.  The tree is wind pollinated.  Orange fruit are round
to ellipsoid drupes that range in size from 2 to 3 centimeters (0.8 to
1.2 inches) in diameter.  The pericarp is thick, scaly and
greenish-orange.  Each fruit contains a small amount of sweet pulp and
one to three shiny, oily, yellowish-brown seeds that range in size from
1.5 to 2 centimeters (0.6 to 0.8 inch) in diameter.  Seeds contain nutty
kernels and resemble potatoes or chestnuts in flavor.  The tree is an
important forage plant in the Yucatan.  Fruit were a staple food during
Mayan times.

Cabeluda:

A large shrub or small tree that is 3 to 7 meters (10 to 24 feet) in
height and native to Brazil.  Grown in humid, tropical conditions.  This
plant contains multiple thin trunks.  Young branches and leaves are
hairy.  Dark green leaves are opposite, elliptical and acute, 2.5
centimeters (1 inch) wide and 10 centimeters (4 inches) long.  Flowers
are small, white, and occur in axillary clusters.  Yellow fruit are
round and about 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) in diameter.  The skin is
pubescent.  Each fruit contains one to two seeds.  Fruit flavor is
similar to apricot.  Fruits are eaten fresh or processed into juices and
jams.

Cajou, fruit:

A large forest tree that grows to a height of 25 to 50 meters (82 to 164
feet).  Native to eastern Amazonia, Brazil and Guiana.  The crown is
wide and the trunk is straight and up to 1 meter (3 feet) in diameter.
Bark is thick and slightly rough.  Roots are large and grow deep in the
ground.  Leaves are simple, smooth, leathery, alternate, clustered at
branch tips, obovate in shape, and 20 centimeters (8 inches) long by 12
centimeters (5 inches) wide.  The apex of the leaf is rounded, the base
is wedge shaped and the undersides of the leaves are pubescent.  The
petiole is up to 1.5 centimeters (0.6 inch) long.  The inflorescence is
a spreading terminal panicle with numerous secondary and tertiary
branches at 90° angles.  Individual fragrant flowers are
greenish-white, white, pink or red in color and contain 5
ovate-lanceolate petals that measure 0.6 to 0.7 centimeters (0.2 to 0.3
inch) long by 0.2 centimeters (0.08 inch) wide.  Male flowers contain 8
stamens measuring 0.7 to 0.8 centimeters (0.3 to 0.3 inch) long.  A
relative of the cashew, the fruit is a kidney-shaped drupe that is 2.5
centimeters (1 inch) long.  This is attached to a large, pear-shaped
false fruit (pedicel) that measures 7 centimeters (3 inches) long and 5
cm (2 inches) in diameter.  The skin is red, smooth and shiny.  The pulp
is pink and juicy.  It has a sweet or acid and astringent flavor similar
to strawberries.  The small kidney shaped nut is edible and tastes
similar to the cashew.  The peduncle is eaten fresh or prepared into
juice.  Rarely cultivated.  Fruit are collected from the ground.

Cambucá:

A small, slow growing evergreen shrub or tree that measures 5 to 12
meters (16 to 39 feet) tall.  Native to the Brazilian southeast coast
near Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo.  Thrives in hot, rainy climates.
The trunk is short and reaches 30 to 50 centimeters (12 to 20 inches) in
diameter.  The smooth, thin, pale brownish-gray bark is flakey,
revealing a copper layer below.  The tree contains a wide, dense crown
of spreading branches.  The dark green evergreen leaves are opposite,
smooth, leathery, glossy, elliptic-acuminate in shape, and contain a
curled margin.  Leaves measure 5 to 16 centimeters (2 to 6 inches) long
by 3 to 5 centimeters (1 to 2 inches) wide.  Petioles are finely hairy,
short and measure 0.5 to 1.5 centimeters (0.2 to 0.6 inch).  The white,
sessile flowers are clustered in groups of 2 to 8 over the branch axils
or distributed around the stem.  Berries are short stalked and round.
Immature fruit are green and turn yellow to bright orange-yellow when
ripe.  The skin is smooth, leathery, and thin and contains many slightly
raised longitudinal ridges.  Size ranges from five to 7 centimeters (2
to 3 inches) in diameter and 55 to 140 grams (2 to 5 ounces) in weight.
The flesh is soft, juicy and orange-yellow.  Within the fruit, there are
one to two hard, oblong flattened light purple seeds.  The flavor is sub
acid to sweet and tastes similar to the jaboticaba.  Fruits are eaten
out of hand or used to make jams, juices, or desserts; the tree is used
as an ornamental or for medicinal purposes.  The bark is used in the
leather industry; the wood is used for furniture and tools.

Carandas plum:

A branching, spiny evergreen shrub or small tree growing to 5 meters (16
feet).  Native to Africa.  The bark is smooth, gray, and contains
straight woody 5 centimeter (2 inch) straight spines growing in pairs.
The tree emits milky latex.  Leaves are opposite, leathery, shiny, dark
green, ovate to ovate-elliptic, occasionally almost circular, and 2.5 to
6 centimeters (1 to 2.4 inches) long by 1.8 to 3 centimeters (0.7 to 1.2
inches) wide.  The leaf stalk is short and measures 0.1 to 0.4
centimeters (0.04 to 0.2 inches) long.  Fragrant pink-white,
purple-white, or red-white flowers are in terminal clusters that measure
4 centimeters (1.6 inches) in diameter.  Individual flowers are slender,
tubular, 1.8 centimeters (0.7 inch) long and about 2 centimeters (0.8
inch) in diameter.  Pollination is by insects.  The purple-black fruit
is a solitary berry that is ovoid to spherical and reaches up to 1.5
centimeters (0.6 inch) in diameter.  The skin is smooth.  The flesh is
reddish in color.  The flavor is sweet to sour and resembles the taste
of an unripe cherry.  Contains 2 to 4 seeds.  Ripe fruits cause teeth to
stain dark red.  Often consumed as a famine food.

Carob:

An evergreen tree reaching 15 to 17 meters (50 to 55 feet) in height and
3.6 meters (12 feet) in diameter.  The trunk may reach 85 centimeters
(33 inches) in diameter.  The bark is brown and rough.  Native to the
eastern Mediterranean, most likely the Middle East.  Leaves are
evergreen, dark green, glossy, leathery, pinnate, elliptic, or ovate in
shape, and occur in pairs of 2 to 6.  Individual leaves are 3 to 7
centimeters (1.2 to 3 inches) long and contain 6 to 10 opposite
leaflets.  Leaflets are dark green, leathery, oval, rounded at the apex,
and measure 2.5 to 6.25 centimeters (1 to 2.5 inches) long.  Trees shed
leaves in July every other year and renew them during the spring.
Green-tinted red flowers are numerous, tiny and measure 0.6 to 1.2
centimeters (0.2 to 0.5 inch).  Flowers occur in short, slender racemes
borne in clusters along the branches.  Most trees are monoecious, with
individual male and female flowers.  The pod is light to dark brown,
oblong, flattened, straight or slightly curved with a thickened margin.
Fruits reach 10 to 30 centimeters (4 to 12 inches) long, 1 to 3.5
centimeters (0.4 to 1.4 inches) wide and 1 centimeter (0.4 inch) thick.
The surface is brown, wrinkled, leathery, glossy, tough and fibrous.
Inside, there is a soft, semi-translucent, pale-brown pulp and 10 to 13
smooth, glossy, brown, flattened, ovate-oblong (0.8 to 1.0 centimeter
(0.3 to 0.4 inch) long) hard seeds.  Immature pods are green, moist and
very astringent.  Ripe pods are sweet when chewed.  The broken pod has
an odor resembling Limburger cheese, due to the 1.3% isobutyric acid
content; the pod has many food uses.  Cultivated for seeds and pods.
The pods are harvested before winter rains; harvested by shaking the
branches with a long pole.  Pods are caught on canvas sheets laid on the
ground.  Pods are sun-dried for 1 or 2 days until the moisture content
is reduced to 8% or below.  Then pods go through a kibbling process,
which involves crushing and grading into 4 categories, cubed,
medium-kibbled, meal and seed kernels.  The tree can live for over a
century.

Cashew apple:

A low-branched, spreading, medium to large fast-growing evergreen tree
that reaches 12 meters (40 feet) in height.  Native to northeast Brazil.
 Bark is rough and contains resin and acrid sap.  Branches are twisted
and crooked; branches touching the ground take root.  Leaves occur in
terminal clusters, are leathery, simple, alternate, oblong-oval or
obovate, 10 to 20 centimeters (4 to 8 inches) long and 5 to 10
centimeters (2 to 4 inches) wide.  Leaves become fully mature 20 to 25
days after emerging.  Fragrant flowers are yellowish-pink, 5-petalled,
and borne in 15 to 25 centimeter (6 to 10 inch) terminal panicles; male,
female and bisexual flowers are found on the tree.  There may be 200 to
1,600 flowers per panicle. Flowering may occur over a 30- to 60-day
period.  For commercial purposes, plants are spaced 6 to 11 meters (20
to 35 feet) apart.  Fruits are produced after three years.  There are
two main cashew tree-types: Gigante (giant) or Tardio (late), which are
large, vigorous trees, usually flowering in their third year from
planting, and Anao (dwarf) or Precoce (precocious), which are smaller
trees that begin to bloom and fruit in their second or third year from
planting and may bloom more than once per year.  The true fruit is the
cashew nut that is shaped like a boxing glove.  The true fruit is a
kidney-shaped nut consisting of a double-walled shell (an outer, thick
exocarp and an inner, hard endocarp separated by a resinous, cellular
mesocarp), surrounding an edible kernel: the cashew nut of commerce.
The nut is pink at first, changes to green, and then becomes a greenish
grey then grayish brown as it develops.  As the nut approaches maturity,
the stalk (or, more accurately, receptacle) above it becomes swollen and
fleshy, forming the 2- to 4-inch, yellow and/or red, juicy, pear-shaped
accessory fruit known as the cashew apple.  The fruit consists of a
double shell containing a caustic phenolic resin in honeycomb-like
cells, enclosing the edible kernel; the fruit reaches 3 centimeters (1
inch) long and 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) wide.  The fruit (nut) develops
first.  When the fruit (nut) is full-grown but not ripe, its peduncle or
receptacle becomes plump, fleshy, pear-shaped or rhomboid to ovate.  The
comma-shaped nut grows outside and underneath the cashew apple.  The
mature cashew apple grows 8 to 10 centimeters (3 to 4 inches) in length
and approximately 5 centimeters (2 inches) wide.  The skin of the cashew
apple is smooth, waxy, yellow, red, or red and yellow in color.  The
yellow pulp is spongy, fibrous, juicy, astringent and acidic.  The time
from flowering to cashew apple harvest is usually 2.5 to 3 months
depending upon temperatures.  Cashew apples become sweeter if they are
allowed to ripen on the tree after they mature.  However, tree-ripened
fruit can fall to the ground, at which time it rapidly spoils within a
day or two.  As with other fruit trees, it is quite common for some of
the developing fruit to drop from a cashew tree before it is ready to
harvest. A mature tree is capable of producing about 50-75 lbs of fruit
(cashew apple plus nut).  For this reason, it is advisable to remove
fruit by hand at as a ripe a stage as possible, where trees are being
grown for the cashew apple.  Cashew apple is consumed by humans and
animals; nuts are consumed; cashew apple juice is used for medicinal
purposes; trees are used to control erosion.

Ceylon iron wood:

A small to medium evergreen tree growing 3 to 20 meters (10 to 66 feet)
in height.  Grown throughout central India and the Deccan Peninsula of
India in dry evergreen forests.  The tree contains a spreading crown and
a straight massive trunk.  Bark and branchlets are smooth and gray.
Leaves are clustered near the ends of branchlets and are smooth,
leathery, simple, alternate, elliptic-obovate or oblong, rounded, or
emarginated at the tip.  Blade size ranges from 5 to 12 centimeters (2
to 5 inches) long by 2.5 to 5 centimeters (1 to 2 inches) wide.  Leaf
stalks are 0.8 to 2 centimeters (0.3 to 0.8 inch).  Flowers are white or
pale yellow and 0.4 centimeters (0.2 inch) in size.  Flowers are borne
in leaf axils and may be solitary or in clusters of 2 to 5.  Velvety
sepals are ovate to triangular in shape and grow 0.3 to 0.4 centimeters
(0.1 to 0.2 inch).  Petals are oblong and 0.3 centimeters (0.1 inch).
The thick flower stalk is 1 to 1.8 centimeters (0.4 to 0.7 inch) long.
Fruits are 1 to 2-seeded, reddish-yellow to yellow berries that are
obovoid-oblong or ellipsoid in shape, 1 to 1.5 centimeters (0.4 to 0.6
inch) long and 0.8 centimeters (0.3 inch) across.  The skin is smooth
and shiny.  Seeds reach 1 centimeter (0.4 inch).  Fruits are consumed
and fruits bark and seed oil have many medicinal purposes; trees are
used for many purposes.

Ceylon olive:

A medium evergreen tree that grows to 18 meters (59 feet) tall.  Native
to Ceylon and India evergreen forests.  Bark is brown and smooth.
Branches are smooth and contain leaf scars.  Leaves are leathery,
simple, alternate, spiral and clustered at the ends of branches.  The
leaf blade is elliptic, 5.5 to 12.5 centimeters (2 to 5 inches) long and
2.5 to 5 centimeters (1 to 2 inches) wide.  The leaf margin is serrate.
The petiole is 1.2 to 4 centimeters (0.5 to 1.6 inches) long.  Flowers
are white, fringed and contain 5 petals.  Located in axillary or
terminal branched clusters.  Green fruit are oblong to ovoid drupes that
are 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) long.  The skin is dull and smooth.
Individual fruit contain 3 to 4 seeds.  The fleshy part of the fruit is
sub-acid.  Consumed both ripe and unripe.  Fruits resemble large olives.

Cherry-of-the-Rio-Grande

Small, multi-branching tropical evergreen tree growing to 8 meters (26
feet) tall.  Native to Brazil.  Grown in moist tropical to subtropical
conditions.  As the tree ages, the bark peels off, revealing a smooth
trunk.  Smooth, glossy, waxy dark green leaves are narrow elliptic, 5 to
8 centimeters (2 to 3 inches) long and borne on short grooved petioles.
Small white flowers are showy.  Fruit is oblong in shape and 2 to 3
centimeters (0.8 to 1.2 inches) in diameter.  The skin is deep red to
purple in color, smooth and shiny.  Individual fruit contain up to 2
round, white seeds.  Pulp is yellowish orange.  Fruit resembles the
grumichama, but is more elongated and larger.  Sweet, cherry-like
flavor.

Chinese olive, black:

Large evergreen tree growing 10 to 30 meters (33 to 98 feet) high.
Native to the Asian and African tropics.  The trunk can reach 90
centimeters (35 inches) across and the bark is brown.  The tree contains
black sap.  Leaves are pinnate, 30 to 60 centimeters (12 to 24 inches)
long and contain 15 to 21 leaflets that are oblong or ovate-elliptic.
Leaflets are 5 to 15 centimeters (2 to 6 inches) long and 3.5 to 7
centimeters (1.4 to 3 inches) wide, abruptly short acuminate or obtuse.
The base is shortly oblique obtuse and entire.  Flowers are small, white
and in axillary branched clusters.  Fruits are oblong drupes that are 4
to 5 centimeters (1.6 to 2 inches) long, 2.5 to 3 centimeters (1 to 1.2
inches) across and contain one seed.  The skin is smooth and
purple-black.  The fruit is pickled, served as a side dish or flavoring.
 Fruit has an acrid, unpleasant taste when fresh.  Fruits resemble
European olives in appearance.  The seed resembles a walnut in taste.

Chinese olive, white:

Tree growing up to 30 meters (98 feet) tall.  Native to forests of
China, Vietnam and the Philippines.  Trunk is 1.5 meters (5 feet) in
diameter.  Bark is light brown and scaly; outer bark is thin and inner
bark is pinkish brown.  Sap is white, aromatic and resinous.  Young
twigs are covered by reddish brown hairs and become smooth with age.
Leaves are compound, alternate, and clustered at the tips of branches.
Leaves contain three to six paired leaflets.  Leaflets are opposite,
elliptic or ovate to oblong-ovate, 7 to 14 centimeters (2.8 to 5.5
inches) long and 5 to 7 centimeters (2 to 2.8 inches) wide.  The rachis
is 26 to 28 centimeters (10 to 11 inches) long.  Flowers are
yellowish-green, have both male and female organs, and are grouped in
axillary racemes.  Fruits are yellowish-green, ovoid to spindle-shaped
drupes that are 2.5 to 4.5 centimeters (1 to 1.8 inches) long by 1.5 to
2.5 centimeters (0.6 to 1 inch) wide.  The skin is smooth and dull.
Each fruit contains 1 to 2 seeds that are a flattened, tapered oval
shape and about 1 centimeter (0.4 inch) long.  Fruits occur in clusters
of six.  Also used like olives.

Chirauli-nut:

Deciduous tree growing 12 to 18 meters (39 to 59 feet) high.  Native to
Southeastern Asia.  Branchlets are dark brown, stout and slightly hairy.
 Leaves are stalked, alternate, leathery, pubescent underneath, oblong
to elliptic, obtuse at both ends, 7 to 20 centimeters long (3 to 8
inches) and 4 to 10 centimeters (1.6 to 4 inches) wide.  Petioles are
1.5 to 2.2 centimeters (0.6 to 0.9 inches).  White to yellowish flowers
are hairy, sessile and in axillary and terminal pyramidal panicles
reaching 20 centimeters (8 inches) long.  Flowers are composed of 5
sepals and 5 petals that are 0.25 centimeter (0.1 inch) long.  Fruit is
an oblong ovoid drupe that turns black when ripe and reaches 0.9
centimeter (0.4 inch) long by 0.6 centimeter (0.2 inch) across.  The
skin is smooth.  Fruits and seeds are consumed.

Ciruela verde:

Small tree or shrub growing 10 meters (33 feet) tall.  Native to South
America.  Trees in the family Malpighiaceae contain simple opposite
leaves.  Flowers are bisexual.  Red, orange or yellow fruit are
ellipsoid, 3 to 4 centimeters (1.2 to 1.6 inches) in length and are
borne in clusters of 8 to 10.  The skin is smooth and shiny.  The flesh
is cream-colored and the flavor is sweet but astringent.  Fruit are not
commonly consumed fresh.  More commonly used as a flavoring.

Cocoplum:

A medium-sized creeping or erect coastal evergreen shrub growing 1 to
1.5 meters (3 to 5 feet); rarely grows into a small tree, reaching 2 to
8 meters (7 to 26 feet) tall.  Native to coastal areas of southern
Florida and the Bahamas through the Caribbean.  The plant consists of
multiple smooth to scaly brown or grey stems.  The twigs are green and
hairless when young, turning reddish brown with raised lenticels when
mature.  Branches contain two rows of shiny, dark green leathery
evergreen leaves that are round or elliptic, alternate and simple.
Leaves measure 3 to 10 centimeters (1.2 to 4 inches) long by 2.5 to 7
centimeters (1 to 2.8 inches) broad.  The petiole is 0.3 centimeters
(0.1 inch) long.  Pubescent cymes measuring 3 to 6 centimeters (1.2 to
2.4 inches) long are axillary and terminal.  Many small white four to
five-petaled flowers measuring less than 1 centimeter (0.4 inch) in
diameter occur in clusters.  Individual petals measure approximately 0.5
centimeters (0.2 inch) long.  Fruit are subglobose, obovoid, spherical
or ellipsoid drupes that measure 1.5 to 3 centimeters (0.6 to 1.2 inch)
in diameter.  The thin, smooth skin changes from green to pinkish-white
to brownish purple to black when ripe and resemble plums.  The thin
flesh is spongy, whitish and slightly sweet to tasteless when ripe;
immature fruit are astringent.  Each fruit contains one large seed with
a high edible oil content.

Date:

A palm with multiple trunks growing to 30 meters (98 feet) tall.  The
main trunk reaches 40 to 50 centimeters (16 to 20 inches) in diameter.
Native to tropical and subtropical areas of Africa and southern Asia:
originated from the ancient Mesopotamia area of southern Iraq or western
India.  Thrives in the desert region from Morocco to Egypt, Arabia and
Pakistan.  Trees were domesticated by 4000 BC.  The crown of the palm
consists of 60 to 150 pinnate leaves that are dark green to grayish,
waxy, feather-shaped, and 3 to 8 meters (10 to 26 feet) in length.
Leaflets are long, narrow and folded upward; leaflets usually grow in
groups of two or more.  Lower leaflets near the base of the trunk are
modified into 10 to 15 centimeter (4 to 6 inch) spines.  Individual
leaflet lengths reach 61 to 75 centimeters (24 to 30 inches); widths
reach 3.8 to 4.4 centimeters (1.5 to 1.7 inches).  Small flowers are
yellowish (female) to white (male), waxy, and occur on a branched spadix
surrounded by a solitary large spathe.  The inflorescence arises from
the axis of the leaves.  Male and female flowers are located on
different plants.  Yellow, greenish, orange red or brown oblong,
elliptical, rounded or ovoid fruit is 2.5 to 7.5 centimeters long (1 to
3 inches), 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) in diameter and occurs in clusters
of 1,000 to 1,500.  The skin is smooth and wrinkles upon drying.  Pulp
is yellowish to reddish brown; flavor is sweet and nutty.  Fruit
production occurs in 5 to 8 years from suckers.  Seeds are elongate and
pointed at the ends; size ranges from 0.2 to 0.3 centimeters (0.08 to
0.1 inch) by 0.5 to 0.8 centimeters (0.2 to 0.3 inch).

Davidson’s plum:

A tree growing to 20 meters (66 feet) tall; possesses thin stems with
dark brown to gray flaky bark.  The canopy is dense and contains many
branches with long hairs.  Hairs also occur on leaves and are an
irritant to humans.  Native to eastern Australia.  Grows in tropical and
subtropical rainforests in north Queensland and northeast New South
Wales.  Leaves are compound, lanceolate, have a terminal pinna and are
60 to 120 centimeters (24 to 47 inches) long.  Leaflets are up to 25
centimeters (10 inches) long.  New foliage is hairy and bright pink in
color.  Inflorescences are borne on older branches and the trunk.
Lateral spikes that range in number from two to 24 and range in size
from 30 to 80 centimeters (12 to 31 inches) hang downward from the tree.
 Flowers are 0.5 to 0.8 centimeters (0.2 to 0.3 inch) long, dark pink,
and contain four to five sepals.  Each flower contains both male and
female organs.  Bluish-black fruit is a laterally compressed obovoid
drupe that ranges in size from 3 to 6 centimeters (1.2 to 2.4 inches)
long, 3 to 5 centimeters (1.2 to 2 inches) wide, and 3.5 to 4.5
centimeters (1.4 to 1.8 inches) deep.  Fruits contain two laterally
compressed stones with soft fibers originating from the margins.  The
skin is smooth.  Pulp is dark-red and appears similar to the European
plum but the taste is sour.  Fruits occur in clusters of a hundred or
more.

Desert date:

A spiny evergreen tree growing 6 to 17 meters (20 to 56 feet) tall.  An
African tropical dryland fruit.  The tree develops a dense crown that is
spherical or hemispherical in shape, drooping branches, and a large
taproot.  The bark is smooth and green when young and thickens, becoming
grayish and deeply fissured when older.  The trunk becomes twisted and
fluted with age.  Leaves are alternate, leathery and bifoliolate.
Leaflets are shiny and entire elliptic to ovate.  Spines are straight,
stout, woody and 12 centimeters (5 inches) long.  Inflorescences are in
fascicles or racemes of fascicles.  Each cluster contains up to six
small scented greenish flowers that contain both male and female
reproductive organs.  Flowers open at night.  Fruiting begins in 5 to 7
years from seed.  Full fruiting potential is reached by 25 years.
Yellow fruit is a cylindrical drupe that is 2 to 4 centimeters (0.8 to
1.6 inches) long, and 1 to 2 centimeters (0.4 to 0.8 inch) in diameter.
Fruit differs in size and pubescence of the skin across different
locations.  When mature, a thin 0.1 centimeter (0.04 inch) brittle skin
encloses the thick, fibrous oily pulp that is 0.2 centimeters (0.08
inch) thick.  Within the pulp, there is a 0.5 centimeter (0.2 inch)
thick hard-pointed woody pit containing an ovoid seed.  Fruit flavor is
sweet to somewhat bitter.  The fruit has been used as a food crop in
Egypt and the Near East for four millennia.  Trees live for 100 or more
years; little progress towards commercial production.

Desert date:

The desert date requires a hot arid climate and does not tolerate humid
climate.  Fruit still develops in unusually dry years.  Grows at
frost-free elevations from sea level to 2,000 meters (6,562 feet) in
fertile, low-lying sites with deep sandy soil and access to water.  Also
grows well on heavier, fertile clay soils with low salinity, open
parklands and grasslands.  Requires a mean annual temperature of > 20
°C (> 68 °F) and <25 to 80 centimeters (10 to 31.5 inches) of mean
annual rainfall.  Propagation is mainly by seed.  Plants may be
propagated by cuttings.  Seeds are soaked in warm water for several
hours before planting time.  A loamy nursery medium, a rooting depth of
at least 12.5 centimeters (5 inches), and shade aids germination.
Seedlings should remain in the nursery for 3 to 6 months.

Doum palm coconut:

A palm with a branched trunk that grows 10 to 15 meters (33 to 49 feet)
tall.  The trunk is 30 to 45 centimeters (12 to 18 inches) thick.
Native to North Africa.  Doum palm coconut has been revered as a sacred
tree: symbolism of masculine strength.  The stiff leaves are palmate, 90
to 150 centimeters (3 to 5 feet) wide, folding, arching, large, ribbed
and contain deeply cut green segments.  The petiole contains sharp
spines.  The plant contains separate catkin-like male and club-shaped
female branches that arise in clusters from between the leaves.  White
flower clusters are 60 to 90 centimeters (2 to 3 feet) long.  Male and
female flowers are found on separate plants.  Individual flowers occur
in sunken pits densely arranged on the branches.  Pollination is by
wind.  The yellowish-brown fruit is an ovoid drupe that is 8 centimeters
(3 inches) long and 5 centimeters (2 inches) in diameter.  The skin is
smooth.  The pulp is fibrous and tough but is sweet and pleasant in
taste; resembles carob or ginger.

False sandalwood:

A sprawling, low-branching shrub or tree growing 2 to 10 meters (7 to 33
feet).  Native to the tropics and warm subtropics.  The crown is rounded
to conical.  The trunk is up to 10 centimeters (4 inches) in diameter.
The bark is dark brown to pale grey, and ranges from smooth to scaly.
Branches are small, purple-red, waxy, and contain straight, slender
spines.  Leaves are alternate, lanceolate to elliptic, 3 to 8
centimeters (1.2 to 3 inches) long by 1.5 to 4 centimeters (0.6 to 1.6
inches) wide and on short petioles.  Young leaves smell like bitter
almonds when crushed.  Fragrant flowers are white, yellow-green or pink
and occur in branched inflorescences borne on short, hanging axillary
racemes or umbels with short, hairy pedicles.  Plum-like fruit are
yellow, yellow-orange or red ellipsoid to subglobose drupes that range
in size from 2 to 3.5 centimeters (0.8 to 1.4 inches) long by 1.5 to 3
centimeters (0.6 to 1.2 inches) wide.  Immature fruit are green.  The
skin of the fruit is thin, smooth and highly perishable.  The pulp is
juicy and the flavor is sour to bland.  Fruit contains one light yellow
woody seed that is up to 1.5 centimeters (0.6 inch) long and 1.2
centimeters (0.5 inch) thick with a brittle shell.

Feijoa:

A small evergreen shrub or tree growing to 6 meters (20 feet).  Native
to southeastern Brazil and Uruguay.  The young growth is whitish or
rusty colored with unbranched and curled woolly hairs that are up to 0.1
centimeter (0.04 inch) long.  Young twigs are moderately to densely
hairy and become hairless with age.  Young bark is smooth, light reddish
brown and becomes grey to light brown and flaky with age.  Leaves are
oval, obovate or elliptic, 3 to 7 centimeters (1.2 to 3 inches) long,
1.5 to 4 centimeters (0.6 to 1.6 inches) wide, densely hairy below and
hairy to hairless, gray-green and glossy above.  Plants are often
self-sterile.  Fruiting is improved by cross-pollination.  To ensure
proper fruiting, two trees of different cultivars must be planted close
together.  The single flowers have four to six cupped petals that are
white on the outside and purplish red on the inside.  Petals are
sub-orbicular to elliptic and measure 1.5 centimeters (0.6 inch) long.
Flowers contain clusters of long crimson stamens with yellow tips.  The
flower stalk is hairy, 0.5 to 3 centimeters (0.2 to 1.2 inches) long and
0.1 to 0.15 centimeters (0.04 to 0.06 inch) wide.  Male and female
reproductive organs are located on the same flower.  Pollinated by
birds.  The fruit is ellipsoid, oval, or pear-shaped, 2 to 5 centimeters
(0.8 to 2 inches) long and 2 to 4 centimeters (0.8 to 1.6 inches) in
diameter.  The skin is bright green, smooth and is covered in a waxy
bloom.  The flesh is whitish to honey-colored and the pulp is
translucent and juicy; the flavor is sweet and described as a cross
between a pineapple and a strawberry.  The aroma is spicy.  Each fruit
contains several small seeds.  Feijoas ripen from the inside out;
consumed when slightly soft.  An over-ripe feijoa develops a brown seed
pulp and loses flavor with time.  There are two populations of feijoa in
South America.  One is found in high altitudes on the basalt plateau in
southeastern Brazil.  Feijoas here contain large seeds.  The other
population is located in the crystalline soils of Uruguay and the south
of Rio Grande do Sul State in Brazil.  These feijoas contain small
seeds.  New Zealand is the world’s large producer of this fruit;
generally, fruit are not yet produced on a commercial scale.

Fig:

A small tree growing 12 meters (39 feet) or more in height and 10 meters
(33 feet) in width.  Figs originated in southern Arabia and spread to
Western Asia and the Mediterranean.  One of the most universally enjoyed
fruits.  Figs have been cultivated from the earliest days of recorded
history.  Currently, there are 1,000 cultivars of fig.  The tree
contains a large canopy with many spreading branches.  Depending on the
cultivar, trees may be round-topped and dense with many twiggy lateral
spurs or contain apically dominant branches with fewer spurs, producing
an open appearance.  The growth habit of the trees ranges from open to
compact and penduluous to upright to spreading, depending on the
cultivar.  Size and density are also variable.  The bark is smooth with
few fissures.  Protruding spherical bark tubers ranging in size from 0.2
to 2.5 centimeters (0.08 to 1 inch), occur on mature trees near the
nodal swellings.  The root system is extensive.  For this reason, trees
should not be planted near buildings.  The plant produces latex.
Contact with the latex may cause skin rashes.  The stiff, dark green
leaves are large, thick, hairy and heart-shaped.  Leaves can possess
three to seven lobes.  The tree is deciduous in cool areas and nearly
evergreen in tropical regions.  The inflorescences are produced within a
fleshy, hollow receptacle called the syconium.  The floral parts line
the wall of the syconium and produce a multiple fruit.  The small
individual flowers are borne on flower stalks and are unisexual.  Three
types of flowers occur within the syconium and include long-styled
pistillate, short-styled pistillate, and staminate.  The staminate
flowers are found around the apical end of the fig and the pistillate
flowers are found in the interior walls of the syconium.  Access to the
flowers within the syconium is through the ostiole.  Pollination by the
small fig wasp is required for the Smyrna type fig.  Other figs produce
fruit without fertilization.  There are two botanically different types
of Ficus carica trees.  Pistillate or “female” fig trees produce
syconia (figs) containing only long-styled pistillate flowers.  These
are commercial figs.  Caprifigs are “male” trees.  These produce
syconia containing both short-styled pistillate flowers and staminate
male flowers.  The so-called “fruit” or fig is actually the
vase-shaped outer flesh called a syconium.  The fig is shaped like a
pear, ranges in color from green, brown, yellow, red, purple, or
purplish-black, and ranges in size from 2.5 to 6 centimeters (1 to 2.4
inches) in diameter and 10 centimeters (4 inches) long.  The skin is
smooth.  Pulp is whitish, yellowish, red or pink.  The flavor is sweet.
The thousands of tiny “seeds” are actually tiny fruits encapsulated
in the syconium.  These embryos develop into viable seeds when
fertilized.  Tree spacing is variable depending on whether figs will be
dried or produced for the fresh market.  The fresh fig consists of 84 %
pulp and 16 % skin.  Plants for drying are planted on a square or offset
pattern with 6 meters (20 feet) between the rows to allow space for
drying and machine harvest and from 4.2 to 5.4 meters (14 to 18 feet)
between trees.  Orchards for fresh fruit production are set closer in
square or offset plantings with from 4.2 to 4.8 meters (14 to 16 feet)
between rows and from 3.6 to 4.8 meters (12 to 16 feet) between trees.
In many commercial production regions, trees are pruned severely after
each harvest because fruit is mainly produced on new growth.
Commercially grown trees average from 5 to 8 meters (16 to 26 feet) in
height and 6 to 7 meters (20 to 23 feet) in width.  Pruning also enables
the fruit to be harvested more easily.  Irrigation at lower elevations
will increase production.  Fruit for the fresh market is hand picked at
a stage of maturity where the fruit has maximum exterior color but
retains firmness.  Figs grown for drying are allowed to fully mature and
partially dehydrate on the tree, eventually dropping to the ground.
When using a mechanical harvester, the fruit is left under the tree to
dry further and mechanically swept into windrows where drying continues.
 The windrows are picked up by the harvester.  Average yields are 180-
360 fruits/tree with an orchard average of 12 tonnes/ha.  Wild trees may
live for 100 years, while orchard trees decline by age 50 to 60 years.

Fragrant Manjack:

A small to medium tropical/subtropical deciduous tree that grows 10 to
20 meters (33 to 66 feet).  Grows from India through southern China and
Taiwan to Fiji via Malaysia, Indonesia, and northern Australia.  The
tree contains a spreading crown and short trunk.  The bark is smooth and
grayish brown.  Leaves are large, ovate or elliptic, alternate and 6 to
13 centimeters (2.4 to 5 inches) long by 4 to 9 centimeters (1.6 to 3.5
inches) across.  White flowers are short-stalked, bisexual, sessile, and
0.5 centimeters (0.2 inches) in diameter.  Flowers occur in terminal
loose cymes.  Fruit are yellow to pinkish-yellow, round or ovoid drupes
that contain a persistent saucer-shaped calyx.  Fruit size ranges from 1
to 1.5 centimeters (0.4 to 0.6 inches) in diameter.  Fruit turn black
upon ripening and the skin is smooth and shiny.  The pulp is
translucent, sticky and gelatinous.  Each fruit contains a stone with
one to four seeds.

Gooseberry, Abyssinian:

An evergreen bushy shrub or tree growing 10 meters (33 feet) tall.
Native to Ethiopia and Kenya.  Thrives in the forests of East Africa.
The spiny shrub or tree contains a rounded crown.  The grayish-brown
bark may contain spines that are up to 4 centimeters (1.6 inches) long.
The trunk grows up to 20 centimeters (8 inches) across.  Bark and
branchlets contain many raised brown lenticels.  Leaves are alternate,
ovate-lanceolate to oblong, hairless to slightly hairy, shiny, light to
dark green, 2.5 to 9 centimeters (1 to 3.5 inches) long and 2 to 4
centimeters (0.8 to 1.6 inches) wide.  The petiole is 0.2 to 0.5
centimeters (0.08 to 0.2 inches) long.  The slender twigs may contain
straight slender spines at the leaf axils.  Flowers are small,
greenish-white, inconspicuous and borne in the leaf axils.  Male and
female flowers are produced on separate plants.  Male flowers are borne
in clusters of 1 to 3, flower stalks are 0.5 to 1.3 centimeters (0.2 to
0.5 inches) long, and calyx-lobes are 0.5 to 0.6 centimeters (0.2 to
0.24 inches) long by 0.2 to 0.3 centimeters (0.08 to 0.1 inch) broad.
Female flowers are solitary, pedicels are 0.6 to 0.8 centimeters (0.2 to
0.3 inch) long and calyx-lobes are slightly larger than those in the
male flowers.  Light orange fruit is oblate globose to ovoid and 2.5
centimeters (1 inch) in diameter.  Skin of immature fruit is hairy and
skin of the mature fruit is smooth, thin and tender.  The juicy pulp is
orange-yellow; the flavor is sour to subacid.  The taste and aroma of
the fruit is similar to that of a fresh apricot.  A few small-flattened
seeds are contained within the fruit.  An aggressive growing plant and
it is occasionally cultivated for juice making.

Gooseberry, Ceylon:

An evergreen shrub or small tree that grows to a height of 4 to 7 meters
(13 to 23 feet).  Native to Sri Lanka.  Bark is gray and slightly scaly.
 The trunk and lower branches contain 4 centimeter (1.6 inch) long sharp
spines.   Branches are long, slender, arching, wide spreading, and
greenish-gray and up to 9 meters (30 feet) long.  Shiny gray-green
leaves are alternate, acute, entire or sub-serrate, elliptical,
lanceolate or ovate in shape, long-pointed, and 7 to 10 centimeters (3
to 4 inch) long; margins are wavy-toothed.  Underneath, leaves are
yellow-green and contain soft hairs.  Petioles are pinkish and woolly.
Yellowish to greenish-yellow flowers are petalless, 1.25 centimeters
(0.5 inch) wide, and occur in clusters in the leaf axils.  Male, female
and hermaphrodite flowers occur on different plants.  Honeybees are
pollinators.  Small, purple, black, or orange-red fruit is ovoid to
round, solitary, 1.25 to 2.5 centimeters (0.5 to 1 inch) wide and 2 to
2.5 centimeters (0.8 to 1 inch) in diameter.  The skin is thin, bitter,
and coated with short, grayish-green to brown velvety hairs that are
unpleasant in the mouth.  A persistent style is located at the apex.
The pulp is juicy and purple-red in color.  The flavor is extremely
acidic, sour, or sweet.  The taste is similar to gooseberries.  Each
fruit contains 9 to 12 hairy seeds that are 0.6 centimeters (0.2 inch)
long.  Immature fruit is orange in color.  Trees can produce large
yields of fruit.  Relatives include the kei-apple and governor’s plum.

Gooseberry, Indian:

A graceful tree growing 18 to 30 meters (59 to 98 feet) high.  Native to
tropical southeast Asia.  Grows in dry deciduous subtropical forests.
Regarded as a sacred fruit by many Hindus.  The bark is smooth, pale
grayish-brown, and peels off in thin flakes.  The tree sheds both its
long slender branchlets and small leaves.  Leaves are small, oblong, and
0.3 centimeters (0.125 inch) wide by 1.25 to 2 centimeters (0.5 to 0.75
inch) long.  Greenish-yellow flowers are small, inconspicuous and occur
in compact clusters in the axils of lower leaves.  Male flowers are
creamy white and occur in clusters at the lower end of a growing
branchlet.  Female flowers occur on the upper end of a few clusters.
Male and female reproductive organs may or may not be contained on the
same plant.  Pollination occurs by wind, bees and gravity.  Fruit are
spherical to oblate, 2.5 to 6 centimeters (1 to 2.4 inches) in diameter,
and solitary.  Fruit are nearly stemless, contain a thin, hard
translucent smooth skin, and are indented at the base.  Fruit also
contain 6 to 8 pale lines that are sometimes faintly ridged and extend
from the base to the apex, giving the appearance of segments or lobes.
Mature fruit range in color from a dull greenish yellow, whitish, or
brick red.  Immature fruit are light green.  The crisp juicy pulp is
yellowish.  The flavor is very sour to bitter.  Fruit contain a
hexagonal-shaped stone with six small seeds.  Trees begin to bear when 5
to 6 years old and can bear for 50 years.  Fruit is both collected from
the wild and cultivated.  Fruit are harvested at full maturity and
allowed to ripen.  At cool temperatures, fruit can be stored for several
weeks.

Gooseberry, Otaheite:

A fast-growing large shrub or small tree that reaches 2 to 9 meters (7
to 30 feet) in height.  Native to Madagascar.  The plant is not related
to the gooseberry, but was given the name Otaheite gooseberry due to the
similar sour flavor of the fruit.  The tree contains a dense, spreading,
bushy crown.  The end of each thick, rough branch contains clusters of
deciduous, greenish or pinkish branchlets that are 15 to 30 centimeters
(6 to 12 inches) long.  Green leaves are alternate, simple, thin,
smooth-edged, ovate to ovate-lanceolate in shape, and 2 to 8 centimeters
(0.8 to 3 inches) long.  The upper surface of the leaves is smooth and
the lower sides of the leaves are blue-green with a bloom.  Each leaf is
connected to a short petiole and at each leaf base, there are two small
pointed stipules.  Leaves occur at the ends of branches.  Small,
pinkish, 4-parted flowers are borne in small clusters on 5 to 12.5
centimeter (2 to 5 inch) long hanging panicles.  Flowers occur on the
main branches and upper trunk.  Male flowers, female flowers, and
bisexual flowers are located on the same plant.  Pale yellow to whitish
fruit occurs in large clusters, oblate in shape, and measure 1 to 2.5
centimeters (0.4 to 1 inch) in diameter.  Each fruit is smooth, contains
six to eight ribs, and is waxy.  Pulp is crisp, juicy and very sour.
Each fruit contains a hard, ribbed stone with 4 to 6 seeds.  Fruit
resembles a bilimbi.  Fully-grown tree can yield 80 – 100 g of fruit.
Trees are not yet commercially cultivated, but are widely grown in
villages and farms and are propagated by seeds.

Governor’s plum (includes Plum-of-Martinique, Rukam, and Indian plum):

Governor’s plum (Flacourtia indica) is a slow-growing shrub or tree
growing 3 to 6 meters (10 to 20 feet) tall.  May or may not be spiny.
Native to tropical Asia and Madagascar.  Found growing near homes and
fields south of the Sahara.  The bark is pale grey and powdery when
young and becomes brown to dark grey and flaking when older.  Vegetative
areas may be hairless or densely hairy.  Young leaves are red to pink
and oval or round in shape with a toothed edge; can grow to 12
centimeters (5 inches).  Mature leaves are bright green, long-tipped,
obovate and leathery; leaves are attached to a 2 centimeter (0.8 inch)
petiole.  Male and female flowers are located on separate plants;
flowers are small, greenish and do not contain petals.  Occasionally,
flowers may contain both male and female reproductive organs.  Male
flowers are 0.5 to 2 centimeters (0.2 to 0.8 inch), contain 5 to 6 ovate
hairy sepals that measure 0.15 to 0.25 centimeters (0.06 to 0.1 inch)
and occur on axillary racemes on 1 centimeter (0.4 inch) long slender
flower stalks.  Female flowers occur in short racemes or are solitary on
short flower stalks that measure less than 0.5 centimeters (0.2 inch).
Purple, reddish or reddish-black fruit are round to ovoid berries that
measure 2 to 3 centimeters (0.8 to 1.2 inch) in diameter.  The fruit is
tipped by 5 to 6 short radiating styles.  The skin is smooth.  The pulp
is yellow in color and the flavor is sweet to sour.  Each fruit contains
4 to 10 pale brown, wrinkled seeds measuring 0.5 by 0.9 by 0.6
centimeters (0.2 by 0.4 by 0.2 inch).  The Plum-of-Martinque (Flacourtia
inermis) is a short-trunked, bushy shrub or small tree that grows to a
height of 5 to 9 meters (16 to 30 feet).  Native to Southeast Asia.
Trees are mostly thornless.  Bark is light brown and smooth.  Leaves are
evergreen, glossy, alternate, bright-red when young, ovate to elliptic
in shape, pointed at the tip, short-pointed at the base, wavy-toothed, 5
to 25 centimeters (2 to 10 inches) long and 2.5 to 13 centimeters (1 to
5 inches) wide.  Petioles are 0.6 to 1 centimeter (0.25 to 0.375 inch)
long.  Yellowish flowers are borne in small, short clusters measuring
2.5 to 3.8 centimeters (1 to 1.5 inches) long on the branches at leaf
bases.  Individual flowers are small, petal less; contain 4 to 5 green
sepals, both male and female reproductive structures, and many yellow
stamens.  Bright red to red-purple fruit is spherical, flattened at the
tip, cherry-like, and up to 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) in diameter.  The
skin is smooth and thin.  Pulp is juicy, and yellow or whitish with a
pink tinge.  The flavor is sour, astringent, acid or sweet.  Each fruit
contains 4 to 14 seeds that are hard, sharp, irregular, and measure less
than 0.6 centimeter (0.25 inch) wide.  Can become invasive in tropical
areas.  Rukam (Flacourtia rukam) is a small, many branched tree that
grows to a height of 5 to 20 meters (16 to 66 feet).  Native to the
Philippines, India, Southeast Asia, Malaysia, Oceania, and Malaya
Archipelago.  The bark is gray-brown and not flaky.  The trunk is 40
centimeters (16 inches) in diameter.  The trunk and older branches are
crooked and furrowed near the base.  Most branches are smooth,
cylindrical and tapered at the ends.  Young branches may be pubescent.
The trunk, young branches and old branches contain many forked or
simple, strong, woody spines that measure up to 10 centimeters (4
inches) long.  Some clonally propagated trees lack spines.  Dark green
leaves are evergreen, spiraled, coarsely toothed on the margins, smooth
to slightly hairy, shiny, elliptic-oblong, ovate-oblong, elliptic, or
oblong-lanceolate in shape, and 6 to 16 centimeters (2 to 6 inches) long
by 4 to 7 centimeters (1.6 to 3 inches) wide.  The base is rounded and
the tip is pointed.  Young leaves are red to brownish-red and drooping.
The petiole is 0.4 to 0.8 centimeters (0.16 to 0.31 inch) long.  Leaf
size, shape and pubescence vary.  Inflorescences are borne in small,
few-flowered, short, finely pubescent racemes in the leaf axils and
measure 0.5 to 1 centimeter (0.2 to 0.4 inch).  Pedicels are 0.3 to 0.4
centimeter (0.1 to 0.15 inch) long.  Male and female flowers are found
on different trees.  Both male and female flowers are greenish-yellow,
lack petals and contain 4 hairy ovate sepals measuring 0.1 to 0.15
centimeter (0.04 to 0.06 inch); male flowers contain many stamens and 8
orange or yellow-white fleshy disk-lobes; female flowers contain 4 to 8
styles, an ovary, and bilobed stigmas.  Purple to dark purple-red fruit
are borne on old branches and the trunk.  Fruit are ovoid to nearly
round in shape, slightly flattened at the tip, and 1.25 to 2.5
centimeters (0.5 to 1 inch) in diameter.  The skin is smooth; the tip of
the fruit contains 4 to 6 small styles set in a circle.  Pulp is yellow
or whitish in color, juicy and fleshy.  The flavor is sweet to acidic.
Each fruit contains 4 to 7 flat seeds.  Can be invasive in some areas.
Indian-plum (Flacourtia jangoma)s is a small shrub or erect,
low-branched tree that grows to a height of 5 to 12 meters (16 to 39
feet).  Native to Tropical Asia including North Bengal, East Bengal and
Chittagong, India and Burma.  Bark is flaking and light-brown,
yellow-brown, copper red or pinkish-buff in color.  The trunk and
branches of young trees contain sharp, woody, simple or branched spines.
 Young branches contain lenticels, which are white-dotted; branches can
be smooth to hairy.  Deciduous dark green leaves are alternate, spirally
arranged, oval-lanceolate, ovate, ovate-elliptic, narrow-ovate or
ovate-oblong in shape, pointed at the tip, rounded at the base, toothed,
thin, smooth, glossy and 5 to 10 centimeters (2 to 4 inches) long by 1.3
to 5 centimeters (0.5 to 2 inches) wide.  Young leaves are pale pink.
The leaf stalk is 0.4 to 0.8 centimeters (0.16 to 0.3 inch) long.
Fragrant greenish to yellowish-white flowers are borne in small clusters
on new branches in leaf axils.  Pedicels measure 0.5 to 1 centimeter
(0.2 to 0.4 inch) long.  Male and female flowers are found on different
trees.  Both flowers contain 4 to 5 ovate, obtuse, greenish, hairy, 0.2
centimeter (0.08 inch) long sepals and a white or yellow-orange disk.
Male flowers measure 1.5 to 3 centimeters (0.6 to 1.2 inch) long; female
flowers measure 1 to 1.5 centimeters (0.4 to 0.6 inch) long.  Purple to
dark-maroon fruit is ovoid to round in shape and 1.5 to 2.5 centimeters
(0.6 to 1 inch) in diameter.  Pulp is yellow, greenish, whitish, or
amber in color and juicy.  The flavor is sweet to acid.  Each fruit
contains 7 to 12 flat, hard, pale-yellow seeds.  Fruit is better liked
compared to other species.  Used for local food production

Grumichama:

A slender, erect shrub or tree growing 6 to 14 meters (20 to 46 feet)
tall.  The subtropical plant is a native to coastal southern Brazil.
The tree is short-trunked and heavily foliaged.  The deep green leaves
are opposite, thick, leathery, waxy, pitted, oblong to oblong-oval and 9
to 16 centimeters (3.5 to 5 inches) long by 5 to 6 centimeters (2 to 2.4
inches) wide.  Leaves remain on the tree for 2 years.  New shoots are
rosy in color.  Mature trees resemble Japanese cherry trees.  Flowers
are borne singly in leaf axils, contain 4 green sepals, 4 white petals,
100 white stamens with pale-yellow anthers and are 2.5 centimeters (1
inch) wide.  Purple to black fruit are long-stemmed, oblate and bear
persistent purple or red-tinted 1.25 centimeter (0.5 inch) long sepals.
Fruit range in size from 2 to 3 centimeters (0.8 to 1.2 inches) in
diameter and are solitary on new growth.  Immature fruit are green to
red.  One variety produces yellow fruit.  The fruit skin is smooth, dry,
thin, firm and fragile like grape skin.  The sweet, juicy pulp is white
or red in color and the flavor is similar to a sweet, subacid cherry
with a hint of jaboticaba and Concord grape.  One to three small
hemispherical hard gray seeds 1.25 centimeters (0.5 inch) wide and half
as thick are found inside the fruit.  Trees are pruned as a shrub and
kept at 2 to 3 meter (6 to 10 foot) heights to facilitate harvesting.
Commercial trees are planted at a 5 to 6 meter (15 to 20 foot) spacing
or grown in hedgerows.  Most commercial production occurs in Brazil.  At
harvest, fruits are placed in containers in double layers and
refrigerated within one hour.

Guabiroba:

A small to medium sized tree growing up to 12 meters (40 feet) tall.
Native to Brazil, the tree contains a rounded crown and crooked trunk
that is fluted at the base.  The tree is semi-deciduous, 4-15 meters
tall.  Leaves are opposite, simple, oval oblong, and 3 to 4.5
centimeters (1.2 to 1.8 inches) long by 4 to 10 centimeters (1.6 to 4
inches) wide.  The green-yellow fruit resembles a small guava and have a
succulent, firm, sweet pulp with a smooth and shiny skin.

Guava:

A large evergreen shrub or freely branching small rounded tree growing
to a height of 3 to 10 meters (10 to 33 feet).  Under high moisture
conditions, guava can reach 10 meters (33 feet) in height and spread
with a 30 centimeter (12 inch) diameter trunk.  Native to tropical and
Central America.  The root system is shallow.  The trunk is short,
freely branching, bony and 25 to 30 centimeters (10 to 12 inches) in
diameter.  Suckering may occur at the base of the trunk.  Pruning is
required to produce a single-trunk tree.  Bark is smooth, thin, peeling,
pale, papery and greenish brown to coppery brown.  Red to coppery-brown
branches is pliable, hard, heavy, fine-grained, and round.  The canopy
is dome-shaped, symmetrical, broad and spreading.  Light green leaves
are opposite, arranged in pairs, entire, simple, aromatic, short
petiole, smooth and leathery on the upper surface, pubescent underneath,
prominently parallel veined, oblong, oblong-elliptic or oval in shape,
and 7 to 18 centimeters (3 to 7 inches) long by 3 to 5 centimeters (1.2
to 2 inches) wide.  White, fragrant flowers are borne singly or in
clusters of two to three at the leaf axils of current growth.
Individual flowers measure 2.5 to 3.5 centimeters (1 to 1.4 inches) in
diameter and contain both male and female reproductive organs, 4 to 5
petals, numerous stamens and one style.  Flowers are self and
cross-pollinated; also pollinated by bees.  Yellow fruit (sometimes
blushed with pink) is a many-seeded berry that is solitary on new
growth, spherical, ovoid, ellipsoid, or pyriform in shape, 2.5 to 12
centimeters (1 to 5 inches) in diameter and 100 to 450 grams (3.5 to 16
ounces) in weight.  The flesh is pink, salmon, white or yellow in color,
soft, juicy, acid, subacid or sweet in flavor, coarse, granular or fine,
creamy in texture, and 0.3 to 1.25 centimeters (0.1 to 0.5 inch) thick.
The skin is smooth to rough, thin, and contains persistent sepals at the
tip.  Pulp is white, yellow or red in color.  The flavor is sweet to
sour.  Aromatic, with a strong, sweet musky smell.  Produces a large
amount of small, angular, woody, yellowish-cream colored seeds that
measure 0.3 to 0.5 centimeters (0.1 to 0.2 inch) in size.  Immature
fruit is green, hard, gummy, and astringent.  Fresh cultivars are sweet,
large, and contain white flesh.  Processing cultivars are more acid,
have a hard rind, and contain red flesh.  Fruit varies greatly from
population to population and can be low-acid, musky and sweet, bland,
low-sugar, low-acid, or high-acid.  Harvesting depends on skin color,
the variety, and the stage at which the fruit is to be eaten.  When
eaten green, fruit is harvested at the mature firm stage without signs
of ripening.  If eaten when soft and ripe, fruit is harvested when
showing signs of color change and softening.  Dessert type fruit is
harvested manually at the mature green (half-ripe stage), graded and
packed.  Processing type fruit is harvested using a machine at the firm
yellow to mature green (half-ripe) stage.  Fruit for the fresh fruit
market is sometimes covered with plastic or paper.

Guava berry:

A slow-growing shrub or tree growing 10 to 15 meters (33 to 50 feet) in
height.  Native to Mexico, the West Indies, and South America.  The tree
contains a dense, rounded canopy with reddish-brown branchlets that are
hairy when young.  The trunk becomes flared into small buttresses at the
base when old.  Pale tan to grey bark flakes into circular discs,
exposing the golden brown flesh underneath.  Deep green evergreen leaves
are simple, opposite, elliptic, ovate, lanceolate, or oblong-lanceolate,
glossy, leathery, pointed at the apex, 2.5 to 8 centimeters (1 to 3.2
inches) long and 0.8 to 3 centimeters (0.3 to 1.2 inches) wide.  The
leaf surface is covered with gland dots, which secrete aromatic oil.
Showy white silky-hairy flowers are star-like in shape, almost
stalk-less, contain 4 fringed petals and pompoms of golden stamens.
Flowers are borne in small axillary or lateral clusters and emerge from
the base of the leaves.  Fruit is a spherical, ovoid or oblate berry
that ranges in size from 0.8 to 1.6 centimeters (0.3 to 0.6 inches) in
diameter and is solitary on new growth.  The fruit is stem-less and is
attached to the leaf nodes.  The skin of the berry contains rough,
glandular spots and changes in color from green to dark red or golden
yellow.  Pulp is yellow-orange and fragrant.  The flavor is sweet to
bittersweet.  Up to 4 seeds are contained within each berry.

Guava, Brazilian:

A slow-growing, slender shrub or tree that reaches a height of 1 to 7
meters (3 to 23 feet).  Native to South America.  Branchlets are finely
hairy and cylindrical or compressed-cylindrical.  Evergreen grayish
leaves are stiff, oblong, oblong-oval, acute, obtuse, elliptic, ovate or
obovate in shape, finely toothed, hairy on the upper side, hairy beneath
with pale or rusty hairs and glands, and 3.5 to 14 centimeters (1.4 to
5.5 inches) long, by 2.5 to 8 centimeters (1 to 3 inches) wide.  White
flowers are borne singly or in clusters of 3 upon one peduncle in the
leaf axils.  Individual flowers contain 150 to 200 stamens.   Pale
yellow to greenish yellow fruit is solitary on new growth, ellipsoid,
round or pear-shaped, 0.3 to 2.5 centimeters (0.125 to 1 inch) wide and
2.5 to 3 centimeters (1 to 1.2 inches) in diameter.  Fruit is smaller
than the common guava.  The peel is smooth.  Flesh is thick and pale
yellow and the pulp is white in color.  The flavor slightly resembles
strawberries and is sour, resinous, subacid, or highly acidic.  Aromatic
and not as musky as the common guava.  Each fruit contains numerous
small, hard seeds.  A firm fruit when ripe.

Guava, Cattley (includes Purple strawberry guava, Yellow strawberry
guava, and Strawberry guava).

A bushy shrub or small tree growing to a height of 2 to 12 meters (7 to
39 feet).  Psidium cattleianum Sabine generally grows 2 to 4 meters (7
to 13 feet) tall, while the yellow-fruited form (Psidium cattleianum
Sabine var. cattleianum forma lucidum) may reach 12 meters (39 feet)
tall.  Native to the coastal lowlands of eastern Brazil and Uruguay.
More attractive foliage and fruit compared to the common guava.
Grey-brown to reddish-brown bark is smooth to peeling.  Brown-barked
branches are slender, smooth and cylindrical.  Dark green evergreen
leaves are opposite, simple, acute, smooth, glossy, thick, leathery,
aromatic, obovate to elliptic in shape, 3 to 12 centimeters (1.2 to 5
inches) long and 1.6 to 6 centimeters (0.6 to 2.4 inches) wide.
Fragrant flowers are borne in the leaf axils singly or in threes.
Individual white flowers are 1.5 to 6 centimeters (0.6 to 2.4 inches) in
diameter and contain four petals, numerous 2 centimeter (0.8 inch) long
stamens, and a four- to five-lobed calyx.  Purple-red fruit is a
spherical to obovoid berry that is solitary on new growth, and 2 to 4
centimeters (0.8 to 1.6 inches) in diameter.  The peel is thin and
tipped with a five-lobed calyx.   Flesh of red-skinned fruit is whitish
in color with a red tint.  Flesh of the yellow-skinned fruit is
yellowish in color.  Flesh is aromatic, soft, 0.3 centimeters (0.123
inch) thick, and surrounds the pulp.  Pulp is juicy and somewhat
translucent.  The flavor is sweet, spicy, subacid or strawberry-like.
Lacks muskiness of the common guava.  The pulp contains numerous small,
hard, flattened-triangular seeds measuring 0.25 centimeters (0.1 inch)
long.  This fruit has several fruit forms.  Yellow, red, and purple
forms are regarded as the same species.  Yellow form fruit are usually
grown from seed.  Young trees are not commonly trained but are
fertilized and irrigated.  Ripe fruit is very perishable and can only be
stored for 3 to 4 days at room temperature.

Guava, Costa Rican:

An attractive erect shrub or small tree growing to a height of 6 to 10
meters (20 to 33 feet).  Trees are usually smaller than 10 meters (33
feet).  Native to Central America, Mexico, and Colombia.  The trunk and
branches are slender.  Bark is red-brown with grayish patches.  Dark
reddish minutely hairy branchlets are square, wiry, and 4-winged.
Evergreen leaves are dark and glossy above, pale and pubescent below,
elliptic, oblong-elliptic or oval in shape, pointed at the tip,
gland-dotted, thin, 3.8 to 12 centimeters (1.5 to 4.75 inches) long and
2.5 to 5 centimeters (1 to 2 inches) wide.  Fragrant white flowers are
borne singly on peduncles and measure 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) wide.
Individual flowers contain 5 waxy petals and 300 stamens measuring 1.3
centimeters (0.5 inch).  Sulfur yellow fruit is solitary on new growth,
small, spherical to ovoid in shape and 2.5 to 6 centimeters (1 to 2.4
inches) in diameter.  The soft pulp is pale yellow to white in color.
The flavor is very sour and acidic.  Each fruit contains a few flattened
seeds that measure 0.5 centimeters (0.2 inch) long.  Aromatic, without a
musky odor.

Guava, Para:

An erect shrub or small tree that reaches a height of 6 to 12 meters (20
to 40 feet).  Native to the eastern Amazon forest in Brazil.  Branches
are slender and bracelets are quadrangular and winged near the leaf
base.  Leaves are alternate, smooth, shiny, oblong-ovate, elliptical, or
oblong-lanceolate in shape, pointed at the tip, rounded at the base,
borne on short petioles, and 4 to 6 centimeters (1.6 to 2.4 inches) wide
by 5 to 14 centimeters (2 to 5.5 inches) long.  White flowers are
solitary or in 2’s or 3’s in the leaf axils on long-stalked slender
quadrangular peduncles.  Individual flowers contain 5 petals and over
300 stamens.  The calyx is closed and splits when the flower expands.
Pollination is by bees.  Sulfur yellow-to-yellow-green fruit is small,
round, pear, ellipsoid or oval in shape, 3 to 8 centimeters (1.2 to 3
inches) wide and 5 to 8 centimeters (2 to 3 inches) long.  The peel is
leathery and there is a persistent calyx.  The pulp is soft and whitish
to yellowish-white.  The flavor is acidic to sour but good tasting and
similar to the common guava.  The aroma is not as musky as the common
guava.  Immature fruit is green.  Each fruit contains a few hard seeds
that are triangular and larger than the common guava.  Small
experimental plots and cultivation occur in Brazil.

Guayabillo:

A medium-sized tree or bush that grows to a height of 15 meters (49
feet).  Native to the West Indies and Central America.  Pale
yellow-to-yellow-orange fruit is small, spherical, solitary on new
growth, and 1 to 1.5 centimeters (0.4 to 0.6 inch) in diameter.  The
pulp is whitish in color.  The flavor is sweetish, acidic, or tart and
has overtones of citrus and floral perfume.

Illawarra plum:

A fast-growing evergreen medium to tall tree growing to 40 meters (131
feet) tall.  Native to Australia.  A primitive species that is found
along waterways.  The dark-green crown is dense.  The trunk grows up to
90 centimeters (35 inches) in diameter and is irregular, especially at
the base; contains brown to dark brown bark that is fissured and scaly
on older trees.  The leaves are oblong to linear, 5 to 14 centimeters (2
to 6 inches) long and 0.6 to 1.8 centimeters (0.2 to 0.7 inches) wide.
Male cones are narrow-cylindrical, catkin-like, up to 3 centimeters (1.2
inches) long and occur in sessile, axillary clusters.  Female cones are
axillary, stalked and solitary; there are few scales.  The cone is
fleshy and unites with the stalk to form a fleshy receptacle.  Male and
female flowers occur on separate plants.  Plants are pollinated by wind.
 A single seed is attached by a fleshy stem to the branch.  The
“fruit” is a grape-like swollen stalk that is dark blue-purple in
color, berry-like and contains a fleshy base that is 2 to 2.5
centimeters (0.8 to 1 inch) in diameter.  The skin is waxy.  The edible
portion is described as mucilaginous with a resinous flavor.  The single
oval to round seed is borne on the top of the fruit and is 1 centimeter
(0.4 inch) in diameter.

Imbé:

A small, slow-growing evergreen shrub or tree reaching 6 to 18 meters
(20 to 59 feet) in height.  Native to eastern tropical Asia and East
Africa.  The tree is pyramidal when young and later becomes a spreading
tree with thick, blue-green young branches and yellow to red resin.  The
plant possesses a unique growth habit where most branches grow out at
right angles to the main stem.  Tough, leathery, waxy blue-green leaves
with whitish veins grow 8 centimeters (3 inches) in a whorl (4 or
opposite).  Single leaves are egg to lance-shaped and grow 6 to 11 by 3
to 5.5 centimeters (2.4 to 4.3 by 1.2 to 2.2 inches).  Scented greenish,
whitish, or yellow flowers occur in groups of 5 to 15 in leaf axils on
old wood.  Male and female flowers occur on separate plants.  Orange
fruit is an ellipsoid berry that grows 1 to 4 centimeters (0.4 to 1.6
inches) in diameter.  The skin is smooth and thin.  Pulp is light
orange; the flavor is sweet and resembles apricots.  Two large seeds are
contained within the fruit.  The thin skin of the fruit and
susceptibility to damage has hindered commercial cultivation.

Imbu:

A tree that has the potential to grow 6 meters (20 feet) tall, but
usually forms a low, spreading tree.  Native to northeastern Brazil.
Grows in dry areas called catingas and dry plains.  The soft, tuberous
specialized root storage organs called cunca, enable the tree to
tolerate drought.  The tree has the ability to branch at 1.5 to 2 meters
(5 to 7 feet) above the ground and form a broad flat crown that measures
2 to 9 meters (7 to 30 feet) in diameter.  However, most of the time,
the branching is irregular.  The pinnate leaves are 10 to 15 centimeters
(4 to 6 inches) long and contain 5 to 9 leaflets that are oblong or
oblong-ovate, serrated and 2.5 to 4.5 centimeters (1 to 1.8 inches)
long.  Flowers are small, white, are composed of a calyx with four to
five segments and a corolla of four to five petals.  The flowers are
borne in panicles that measure 10 to 15 centimeters (4 to 6 inches)
long.  Greenish-yellow fruit are produced on thin stems near the ends of
the branches, are ellipsoidal to oval in shape, and are 3.5 to 4
centimeters (1.4 to 1.6 inches) long.  Fruit contain a smooth, thick,
tough skin and grow in clusters of 3 to 4.  Pulp is soft and whitish.
The flavor is sweet, resembling an orange.  Immature fruit is sour.
Described as the best-flavored fruit among all of the Spondias species.
The stone is oblong and 2 centimeters (0.75 inches) long.  Wild fruit
are so productive; there is little need for cultivation.  Wild trees
produce more fruit than can be consumed.  Some cultivation takes place
where wild trees are not present.  However, the fruit has a short shelf
life and is difficult to ship.

Jaboticaba:

A slow-growing upright small to medium shrub or tree growing 8 to 12
meters (26 to 39 feet) high.  Native to Central and Southern Brazil,
specifically the hilly region around Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais.
Also popular around Santa Cruz, Bolivia, Asunción, Paraguay, and
Northeastern Argentina.  Trees branch profusely from near the ground and
the branches slant upwards and outwards.  The crown is dense and rounded
and may spread to 14 meters (46 feet).  The bark is smooth, thin and
flakes off to leave light patches.  Young foliage and branchlets are
hairy.  Leaves are dark green, glossy, leathery, evergreen, opposite,
lanceolate, oblong or elliptic, rounded at the base and sharply pointed
at the apex.  Leaf size ranges from 2.5 to 10 centimeters (1 to 4
inches) long and 1.25 to 2 centimers (0.5 to 0.8 inch) wide.  Leaves are
borne near the branch tips.  The tree comes in two forms- the ‘small
fruit’ type with 3 centimeter (1.2 inch) long by 1 centimeter (0.4
inch) wide leaves and ‘giant fruit’ types with 6 centimeter (2.4
inch) long by 3 centimeter (1.2 inch) wide leaves.  New growth is light
green with a reddish tinge.  The petioles are very short and downy.
Flowers contain four hairy white petals and 60 stamens measuring 0.4
centimeter (0.2 inch) long.  Flowers emerge from the trunks, branches
and exposed roots in groups of four on a short, thick stalk and measure
up to 1 centimeter (0.4 inch) in diameter.  Mature black fruit occur
singly or in clusters on short stalks.  Fruit are spherical, slightly
oblate, broad-pyriform or ellipsoid and 2 to 4 centimeters (0.8 to 1.6
inches) in diameter.  At the apex, a small disk and vestiges of the four
sepals are present.  Small variety fruit are 2.3 centimeters (0.9 inch)
in diameter and giant variety fruit are 4 centimeters (1.6 inch) in
diameter.  The skin is smooth, tough, thick, glossy, and changes in
color from green when immature to red-purple, maroon-purple or black
when mature.  Fruit are borne on the trunk, exposed roots and large
limbs of the tree.  The gelatinous, juicy translucent pulp is white or
pink and the flavor is sweet, slightly acidic and spicy.  Many describe
the taste as a mixture of grape, litchi and blackcurrant.  Some fruit
may be mildly resinous and astringent.  There are one to five oval or
round light brown seeds that may be hard or tender and measure 0.6 to
1.25 centimeters (0.5 inch) long.  Fruit are harvested when the fruit
turns deep purple to black and becomes soft to the touch.  Maturation
takes place over 2 weeks on one tree.  The tough skin protects the fruit
from bruising.

Jamaica cherry:

A rapidly growing, slender, neotropical pioneer tree of forest gaps that
grows 5 to 12 meters (16 to 39 feet) high.  Widely distributed from
Mexico to Bolivia and Brazil.  Known to be an invasive plant in some
areas.  Branches are spreading, nearly horizontal and fan-like.  The
tree is an evergreen that sheds most of its leaves only when there is a
very dry season.  Dark green leaves are alternate, simple lanceolate or
oblong, pointed at the apex, oblique at the base, irregularly toothed,
and 4 to 14 centimeters (1.6 to 5.5 inches) long by 1 to 4 centimeters
(0.4 to 1.6 inches) wide.  The upper surface of the leaves contain
minute silky hairs and the undersides are grey or brown and hairy.
White to light pink flowers are 1.25 to 2 centimeters (0.5 to 0.8 inch)
wide, borne in the leaf axils singly or in two’s or three’s, and
contain five fine green sepals, five petals and many yellow stamens.
Flowers resemble strawberry blossoms.  There are 4 to 9 days between
sequential openings of the individual flowers.  There is a range of
floral forms.  Flowers contain both male and female reproductive organs.
 The flower opens before dawn and lasts for only a day.  Bees are the
main source of pollination.  Red to yellow berries are round, 1 to 1.25
centimeters (0.4 to 0.5 inch) in diameter, sweet, sticky, and slightly
astringent.  The skin is smooth, thin and tender.  Pulp is light brown,
soft and juicy; the flavor is musky and fig-like.  There are numerous
minute black to dark-brown seeds.  Fruit are popular in the Philippines
with children.  Most fruit are obtained from wild plants.  Many consider
fruit too small to be of commercial value.  Harvesting takes place by
shaking ripe fruit from the branches of the tree.

Jambolan:

A fast-growing large tree that reaches a height of 12 to 30 meters (39
to 98 feet).  The tree can attain a spread of 11 meters (36 feet).
Native to India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Burma, Sri Lanka and the Andaman
Islands.  The tree contains a rounded crown and thick trunk that may
fork into multiple trunks a short distance from the ground.  The main
trunk may reach 0.6 to 0.9 meters (2 to 3 feet) in diameter.  The bark
on the lower part of the tree is rough, cracked, flaking and discolored.
 Bark further up the tree is smooth and light gray.  Young stems are
slender and grayish-white.  Large dark green leaves contain a yellow
midrib, are turpentine-scented, evergreen, leathery, glossy, opposite,
entire, oblong-oval, broadly obovate-elliptic, elliptic-oblong or
elliptic, blunt to tapering to a point at the apex, rounded at the base,
5 to 25 centimeters (2 to 10 inches) long, and 2.5 to 10 centimeters (1
to 4 inches) wide.  Petioles are 1 to 3.5 centimeters (0.4 to 1.4
inches) long.  Young leaves are pinkish.  Small fragrant flowers have a
funnel-shaped calyx, 4 to 5 united petals, are 1.25 centimeters (0.5
inch) wide and 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) or more in length.  Flowers are
borne in 2.5 to 10 centimeter (1 to 4 inch) long clusters.  Flower
petals change in color from white to rose pink and then shed.  Small
purple fruit are curved, ellipsoid, round or oblong, occur in clusters
of 2 to 40, and grow in size from 1.5 to 2.5 centimeters (0.6 to 1 inch)
in diameter.  Fruit can obtain a length from 1.25 to 5 centimeters (0.5
to 2 inches).  Immature fruit are green to light magenta and become
dark-purple or nearly black when mature.  Some species are white in
color.  The skin is thin, smooth, glossy, and adherent to the pulp.
Pulp is white to lavender in color and juicy; the flavor is sweet to sub
acid or slightly astringent.  Each fruit contains single oblong green or
brown seed that is up to 4 centimeters (1.5 inches) in length.  Some
fruits contain 2 to 5 oblong seeds that are tightly compressed within a
leathery coat and some are seedless.   In India, fruits are harvested
several times during the season by hand as ripening occurs.  Fruits do
not travel well.

Jelly palm:

A slow-growing feather palm with a single trunk that grows 2 to 8 meters
(7 to 26 feet) high.   Native to Brazil.  The trunk reaches
approximately 0.5 meters (2 feet) in diameter and is covered with old
leaf bases.  The canopy contains 18 to 32 arching evergreen leaves.  The
palm has a 3 to 5 meter (10 to 15 foot) spread.   Yellowish green,
bluish gray or grayish green pinnate leaves are 2.5 to 3 meters (8 to 10
feet) long.  Petioles are short, broad, armed with spines, and 0.6 to
1.2 meters (2 to 4 feet) in length.  Each leaf contains 44 to 48 pairs
of stiff upright linear leaflets that form a ‘V’ and are 46 to 91
centimeters (18 to 36 inches) long.  The inflorescence is branched but
short and is subtended by a conspicuous woody bract.  Male and female
flowers are white to yellow and are borne on the same stalk.  The yellow
to orange-yellow fruit is round or ovoid, 2.5 centimeters (1 inch) in
diameter, 1.8 to 3.5 centimeters (0.7 to 1.4 inches) long, and borne in
large clusters.  The skin is smooth.  The pulp is stringy and fibrous.
The flavor is sweet to subacid and is reminiscent of tart apples or
apricots.   Each fruit contains one to three seeds surrounded by a bony
endocarp with three pores near the middle.  Large quantities of fruit
are produced from a single tree.  Fruit can create a mess on sidewalks.
The fruit is not yet produced commercially.

Jujube, Chinese:

A small deciduous tree growing 4.5 to 15 meters (15 to 49 feet) high.
Native to Asia.  Jujubes have been cultivated for over 4,000 years in
China and India.  One of the most important fruit trees in China.  The
bark of the tree is rough.  Drooping branches contain curved spines at
each node.  Trees sprout thorny shoots from the shallow root system that
can form a thicket of thorny trees over time.  The fast-growing tree can
become weedy.  Leaves are small, ovate or oval, glossy, dark green, and
2.5 to 5 centimeters (1 to 2 inches) long. Margins contain very fine
teeth.  There are two spines at the base of each leaf.  In autumn,
leaves turn bright yellow.  Yellow-green to white flowers are small,
fragrant, contain both male and female organs, grow 0.5 centimeter (0.2
inch) in diameter, and are borne in clusters in the leaf axils of the
branches.  Flowers may open in the morning or during the afternoon.
Dark red to brown ellipsoid or round fruit are drupes that grow 2 to 3
centimeters (0.8 to 1.2 inch) long and 1.3 centimeters (0.5 inch) in
diameter.  Immature fruit are green and slowly ripen from yellow-green
with mahogany-colored spots to red.  Fruit are usually consumed between
the yellow-green stages and the full red stage.  Fruit size and shape
vary according to cultivar.  The thin skin is smooth.  When mature, the
skin softens and wrinkles like a small date.  Pulp is whitish; the
flavor is crisp, sweet and subacid.  Many believe the fruit tastes like
an apple.  Some varieties are tart with high acidity.  Each fruit
contains one stone that may or may not contain two seeds.  Fruit is
important in its native area.  There are many varieties in China.  Fruit
are gathered from wild trees and are cultivated in orchards.  Fruit
should be harvested when the skin color is changing from whitish green
to brown.

Jujube, Indian:

A thorny, fast-growing shrub or tree reaching to 2.5 to 15 meters (8 to
49 feet) high.  Native to India and Southeast Asia.  A tropical species
compared to Ziziphus jujuba.  The fruit of this tree was an important
food source in Pakistan approximately 8,000 years ago.  The tree may be
erect or wide spreading; possesses drooping branches, downy, zigzag
branchlets that may or may not contain short, sharp straight or hooked
spines, and a rapidly growing taproot.  The small, green, shiny, tough
leaves are simple, alternate, elliptical, ovate, oblong-elliptic,
entire, or slightly toothed.  Leaves contain 3 conspicuous, deep
longitudinal veins and grow 2.5 to 6.25 centimeters (1 to 2.5 inches)
long by 2 to 4 centimeters (0.75 to 1.5 inches) wide.  Unlike the
Chinese jujube, the Indian jujube contains dense, silky white or brown
hairs on the undersurface of the leaves and short, downy petioles.
Leaves may shed during the dry season.  Flowers are small, fragrant,
greenish to yellowish in color, 5-petalled, and are borne in 2’s or
3’s in the leaf axils of the branches.  Some flowers open in the
morning, while others open in the afternoon.  Honeybees and houseflies
are the main pollinators.  Approximately 10% of the flowers produce
mature fruit.  Immediately after fruit set, there is a very heavy fruit
drop.  Deep yellow, burnt-orange, red, red-brown or brown fruit is an
ellipsoid, ovoid, oval, obovate, round or oblong drupe that is 1.25 to
6.25 centimeters (0.5 to 2.5 inches) long.  Fruit grows solitary on the
tree.  Immature fruit are green.  Wild fruit bear cherry-sized fruit
ranging in size from 1.25 to 2.5 centimeters (0.5 to 1 inch) long, while
improved varieties bear plum-sized fruit growing a size of 6.25
centimeters (2.5 inches) long and 4.5 centimeters (1.75 inches) wide.
The skin is smooth or rough, glossy, thin and tough.  Pulp is thin,
crisp, juicy and whitish in color.  When under ripe, the flavor is sweet
to subacid and has a taste similar to crabapple.  When mature, fruit
becomes mealy.  Overripe fruit are wrinkled.  Each fruit contains a
single, hard oval or oblate rough stone, which contains 2 elliptic,
brown 0.6 centimeter (0.25 inch) long seeds.  Fruit is important in
native areas.  Improved varieties are taller, contain smaller thorns,
and possess larger leaves and fruit may be hard or tender and measure
0.6 to 1.25 centimeters (0.5 inch) long.  Fruit are harvested when ripe.
 Green fruit do not ripen off the tree.  Fruit shipped to market are
harvested in the mature green to golden yellow stage.  Harvesting is
accomplished by manually shaking or beating the branches.  Fruit stands
handling, shipping, and marketing well.

Kaffir-plum:

An attractive medium to large evergreen tree that grows 6 to 15 meters
(20 to 49 feet) high.  Native to South Africa.  Grows in riverbanks of
forests.  The tree contains a thick crown, branches that curve upward
and drooping leaves.  Trees in forests contain buttress roots.  The bark
is smooth when young and becomes rough and dark grey-brown as the tree
matures.  Pinnate leaves are shiny, stiff, erect, dark green, spirally
arranged, and contain 4 to 8 pairs of sickle-shaped leaflets, plus a
terminal leaflet.  Leaflets are hairy when young and up to 7.5
centimeters (3 inches) long.  Leaves are sometimes interspersed with odd
red leaves and crowd the ends of the branches.  Flowers are whitish
green to yellowish and are borne near the ends of the branches.  Male
and female flowers are found on separate plants.  Small, plum-like
oval-shaped fruit turn from green to red when mature and grow to 2.5
centimeters (1 inch) in length.  The skin is thin and smooth.  Fruit are
slightly sweet to sour in taste.  Each fruit contains a single seed.

Kakadu plum:

A slender, small to medium-sized deciduous tree growing up to 30 meters
(98 feet) high.  Native to Australia.  Grown throughout the tropical
woodlands from Northwestern Australia to Eastern Arnhem Land.  The tree
contains creamy-grey flaky bark.  Pale green leaves are spirally
arranged, crowded towards the ends of the branches, very large,
oval-shaped and up to 25 centimeters (10 inches) long by 15 centimeters
(6 inches) wide.  Flowers are small, creamy-white, scented, and borne
along spikes in the leaf axils at the ends of the branches.  The
roundish to oval yellow-green fruit are almond-sized, growing 3
centimeters (1.2 inches) long and 1 centimeter (0.4 inch) in diameter.
The skin is smooth.  Fruit are classified as pseudo-drupes, contain a
short beak at the tip of the fruit, and possess one large seed.  Fruits
that are consumed raw possess a drying-out effect in the mouth.  Fruits
have been used by the Australian Aborigines for tens of thousands of
years.  Current industry demand is met by bush collectors.  Wild-growing
trees tend to have higher vitamin C content compared to cultivated
trees.

Kapundung:

A small to medium-sized tree growing 15 to 25 meters (49 to 82 feet) in
height.  Native to Western Malaysia.  The tree contains a dense,
irregular crown and a trunk that grows 25 to 70 centimeters (10 to 28
inches) in diameter.  The leaves are simple, entire, ovate-oblong to
obovate, glandular, and 7 to 18 centimeters (2.8 to 7.1 inches) long by
3 to 7 centimeters (1.2 to 2.8 inches) wide.  The leaf stalk is 0.5 to
4.5 centimeters (0.2 to 1.8 inches) long.  The stipules at the base of
the leaves are triangular.  Leaves contain alkaloids.  Flowering stalks
are on the old branches and trunk.  Male and female flowers grow
separately.  Male flowering stalks are 5 to 13 centimeters (2 to 5
inches) long and contain many 3-flowered densely haired cymes.  Each
flower is small and contains 4 to 5 sepals and 4 to 8 stamens.  Female
flowering stalks are 10 to 20 centimeters (4 to 8 inches) long and
contain larger flowers with 5 sepals and no petals.  Oval-shaped fruits
are yellowish-green, turning scarlet when mature.  Fruits grow 2 to 2.4
centimeters (0.8 to 1 inch) in diameter and may be covered with fine
silvery hairs.  The acidic fruits should be eaten sparingly.  Consuming
too much of the fruit induces vomiting.

Karanda:

A woody, climbing, semi-vine shrub growing 3 to 5 meters (10 to 15 feet)
high.  Native to India.  The shrub can be found climbing to the tops of
tall trees.  A white, gummy latex exudes from the plant and fruit.  The
spreading branches form dense masses and contain sharp thorns reaching 5
centimeters (2 inches) long.  Thorns are simple or forked and occur in
pairs in the axils of the leaves.  Leaves are dark-green, leathery,
glossy, evergreen, opposite, oval or elliptic, reaching 2.5 to 7.5
centimeters (1 to 3 inches) long.  The white to pink-tinged flowers are
fragrant and tubular with 5 hairy lobes that are twisted to the left in
the bud.  Flowers are borne in terminal clusters of 2 to 12.  Fruits are
oblong, broad ovoid or round, 1.25 to 2.5 centimeters (0.5 to 1 inch)
long and 2 centimeters (0.75 inch) in diameter; found in clusters of 3
to 10.  The smooth, glossy skin is thin but tough and turns from a
purplish-red to dark-purple or black when ripe.  The red or pink juicy
pulp is very acid, bitter, or sweet; the flesh exudes latex.  Inside, 2
to 8 small flat brown seeds can be found.  Yields vary from 4 to 5 kg
fruits per shrub with fully mature plants averaging 25 kg/plant.  .
Fruits are eaten fresh or cooked; the tree is used as a hedge and it has
many medicinal purposes.

Kwai muk:

A slow-growing, slender, erect evergreen tree that grows 10 to 30 meters
(33 to 98 feet) tall.  Native to China.  The tree contains a dense,
rounded canopy.  Milky latex is contained within the tree.  Branchlets,
young shoots, and petioles are covered with rusty hairs.  Bark is dark
purple.  Leaves are dark green, stiff, leathery, glossy, alternate,
elliptic, elliptic-ovate, obovate, or obovate-oblong in shape, and grow
7 to 15 centimeters (3 to 6 inches) long by 4 to 8 centimeters (2 to 3
inches) wide.  Leaves are rounded or obtuse at the base.  Leaf petioles
are 1.5 to 2 centimeters (0.6 to 0.8 inch) long.  Small, yellowish
flowers are borne in solitary, axillary, obovoid inflorescences.  Flower
stalks are 1 to 3 centimeters (0.4 to 1.2 inch) long.  Male flower heads
are hairy and are on obovoid or club-shaped stiff spikes that are 1.2 to
1.6 centimeters (0.5 to 0.6 inch) long.  Female flowers are smaller and
are in dense round heads that measure 1 centimeter (0.4 inch) wide.
Male and female flowers are located on the same tree.  The pale yellow,
white, or orange-red fruit is actually a multiple fruit or syncarp.
Fruit are round, oblate, ovate, or oblong-globose and 1.5 to 5
centimeters (0.6 to 2 inches) in diameter.  The skin is thin, tender and
contains velvety brown hairs.  Immature fruits contain latex.  Pulp is
orange-red to red and the taste is sweet-tart, subacid or acid.  Fruit
is seedless or may contain 1 to 7 small seeds that are 0.8 to 1
centimeter (0.3 to 0.4 inch) in diameter.

Lemon aspen:

An ornamental tree growing up to 15 meters (49 feet) tall and 2 meters
(7 feet) wide.  Native to Australia.  This dense tree contains leaves
that are dark green and elliptical in shape.  Leaves grow up to 25
centimeters (10 inches) long and contain oil glands that emit a citrus
scent when crushed.  Small yellow flowers contain petals with claw-like
tips.  Small yellow fruit is roundish, 1.5 to 2.5 centimeters (0.6 to 1
inch) in diameter and grows in clusters at the end of branches.  Fruit
is pale green when immature.  The skin is waxy and contains small
ridges.  Like the leaves, the fruit emits a spicy citrus odor.  The
flavor is strong, acidic, and lemony.  Each fruit contains an apple-like
core that consists of small dark seeds encased in husks.  Bush food
plant.   Fruit should be harvested when pale yellow and placed directly
into a refrigerator.  Fruit should be frozen within 12 to 24 hours of
harvest and can be stored at -20 °C (-4 °F) for up to 24 months.

Mangaba:

An evergreen shrub or tree growing 2 to 15 meters (7 to 49 feet) tall.
The diameter of the canopy is 4 to 5 meters (13 to 16 feet).  Native to
the Amazon and Northeast region of Brazil.  Grows in dry, arid climates.
 Latex is produced in the stems and leaves and is poisonous.  This tree
has a semi-deciduous life cycle.  The species is threatened by
deforestation.  Bark is reddish and wrinkled.  Branches occur as whorls
on the main stem.  Leaves are simple and leathery.  The inflorescence
contains one to seven white, double flowers that are approximately 6
centimeters (2 inches) long, and contain both male and female
reproductive organs.  Inflorescences are borne terminally on the latest
growth.  Bees and other insects are the main pollinators.  Yellow to red
fruit is an ellipsoidal or round berry growing 2.5 to 6 centimeters (1
to 2 inches) in diameter.  The skin of the fruit is smooth and usually
contains red grooves.  Pulp is soft, fibrous and white.  The flavor is
both sweet and acidic.  Each fruit contains 2 to 30 seeds.  Each seed is
disc-shaped, wrinkled, clear chestnut brown and 0.7 to 0.8 centimeters
(0.28 to 0.31 inches) in diameter.  Currently, fruit are collected from
the wild and not cultivated.  Fruit is highly perishable and should be
harvested at the half-ripe stage when green.  Fruit should be packed
into plastic boxes directly after harvest and shipped.

Marian plum:

An evergreen tree growing 9 to 27 meters (30 to 89 feet) tall.  Native
to Southeast Asia.  Bark is light brown and fissured and the trunk is
short.  The tree contains resinous sap.  Branchlets are smooth, hanging
and angular or flattened.  Shiny, leathery, downward-pointing leaves are
simple, entire, opposite, resinous, ovate-oblong, lance-shaped or
elliptic, and 10 to 45 centimeters (4 to 18 inches) long by 5 to 13
centimeters (2 to 5 inches) wide.  The base of the leaf is acute or
wedge-shaped.  The leafstalk is 1 to 2.5 centimeters (0.4 to 1 inch)
long.  Young leaves are purple-red in color and silky.  Inflorescences
are hanging panicles that are 4 to 12.5 centimeters (1.6 to 5 inches)
long.  Small greenish or yellowish flowers contain oblong to obovate
petals that are 0.15 to 0.25 centimeter (0.06 to 0.1 inch) long by 0.1
centimeter (0.04 inch) wide.  Yellow to yellow-orange fruit are oval,
round, or oblong-ovoid in shape, mango-like, borne in small clusters,
2.5 to 5.0 centimeters (1 to 2 inches) in diameter, and 4 to 7
centimeters (1.6 to 3 inches) long.  Immature fruit are pale green.  The
skin is thin, smooth, brittle and edible.  Pulp is yellow to orange in
color and juicy; the flavor is sweet to sour.  Fruit emit a turpentine
odor.  Each fruit contains one leathery, whiskered stone.  The tree is
divided into three groups in Thailand:  Sour ma-praang, sweet ma-praang,
and ma-yong.  Sour fruits grow wild in the forests and are sometimes
consumed.  Sweet fruits are cultivated.  Ma-yong fruits are cultivated
but are slightly sour.

Mombin, Malayan:

A medium deciduous tree growing 8 to 20 meters (26 to 66 feet) tall.
Native to tropical Asia.  The tree contains a straight trunk and
branchlets that are yellowish brown.  Bark is smooth, pale grey and
contains rounded knobs.  Leaves are stalked, alternate, and odd-pinnate
and 30 to 40 centimeters (12 to 16 inches) long.  The petiole is 10 to
15 centimeters (4 to 6 inches) long.  Each leaf contains 5 to 11 shiny,
short-stalked, and entire, opposite, elliptic-oblong to ovate-oblong
leaflets that range in size from 7.5 to 17 centimeters (3 to 7 inches)
long by 3.5 to 7.5 centimeters (1.4 to 3 inches) wide.  Leaflet petioles
are 0.3 to 0.5 centimeters (0.1 to 0.2 inches) long.  Greenish-white
flowers are contained in spreading terminal panicles that are 25 to 35
centimeters (10 to 14 inches) long.  Inflorescences are located in the
leaf axils.  Petals are ovate-oblong and 0.25 by 0.15 centimeters (0.1
to 0.06 inches) long.  Small, greenish-yellow to yellowish-orange fruit
is an oblong to ellipsoid drupe that ranges in size from 3.5 to 5
centimeters (1.4 to 2 inches) long by 2.5 to 3.5 centimeters (1 to 1.4
inches) wide and 4.5 centimeters (1.8 inches) in diameter.  The skin is
smooth, and each fruit contains one large stone with 1 to 5 seeds.
Yield per tree can be 100 – 300 fruits.  The flavor is strong and
sour.

Mombin, purple:

A small deciduous tree growing 3 to 15 meters (10 to 49 feet) tall.
Native to Southern Mexico and Central America.  The most cultivated
species in the genus Spondias.  The plant grows as a shrub or
low-branched small tree in lowlands or a spreading, thick-trunked tree
in highlands.  Bark is grey and smooth and branches are thick and
brittle.  Leaves are pinnate, alternate, 6 to 28 centimeters (2.4 to 11
inches) long, and contain a 15 to 20 centimeter (6 to 8 inch) rachis.
Each leaf contains 5 to 12 pairs of leaflets.  Elliptic, obovate,
lanceolate or oblanceolate leaflets are 3 to 6 centimeters (1.2 to 2.4
inches) long by 1 to 2.5 centimeters (0.4 to 1 inch) wide.  Young leaves
are bright red or purple.  Leaves usually drop during flowering.
Lateral inflorescences are produced in the primary branches and measure
1 to 10 centimeters (0.4 to 4 inches) long.  Each inflorescence contains
a few small red to purple, 4 to 5 petalled, 0.25 to 0.35 centimeter (0.1
to 0.14 inch) long flowers.  Flowers are borne in short, hairy panicles
and can be male, female, or bisexual.  Red, yellowish, purple or orange
fruit is an oblong, oval, pear-shaped, obovoid or subglobose drupe that
grows solitary or in groups of 2 to 6.  Fruit is 1.5 to 5 centimeters
(0.6 to 2 inches) long by 1 to 3.5 centimeters (0.4 to 1.4 inches) wide
and contains small indentations and a knob at the apex.  The skin is
thin, smooth, glossy and firm.  Yellow pulp is fleshy and juicy; the
flavor is sweet and plum like in flavor.  Each fruit contains a large
pit that is 1.25 to 2 centimeters (0.5 to 0.75 inches) long with 1 to 5
seeds.  Fruit are borne without fertilization.  The two main groups of
red mombins are dry-season and wet-season.  Dry-season fruit are smaller
(2.7 to 3.9 centimeters (1.1 to 1.5 inches) long by 1.9 to 3 centimeters
(0.7 to 1.2 inches) wide), ellipsoidal, smooth, red-purple, sweet, less
acidic than the wet-season type, grown 0 to 800 meters (0 to 2,625
feet), and are produced at the end of the dry season.  The wet-season
fruit are large (3.1 to 4.5 centimeters (1.2 to 1.8 inches) long by 2.4
to 3.5 centimeters (0.9 to 1.4 inches) wide), yellow or red, smooth or
bumpy, slightly acidic, grown at elevations of 800 to 2,000 meters
(2,625 to 6,562 feet), and are produced during the last part of the
rainy season.  The sweet-smelling fruit has been valued by people of the
tropics for many years.  Fruit are harvested by shaking the branches
with poles and gathering the fruit from the ground.  The skin of the
fruit is easily damaged.

Mombin, yellow:

An erect medium-sized tree growing 10 to 30 meters (33 to 98 feet) in
height.  Native to moist lowland forests from Southern Mexico to Peru
and Brazil.  Spondias mobin is the most economically significant species
of Spondias that occurs in Brazil.  The tree is composed of a wide
canopy and a buttressed trunk with thick, rough, fissured and corky
bark.  The bark of young trees contains many blunt-pointed spines or
knobs that are up to 2 centimeters (0.8 inch) long.  The trunk is 60 to
75 centimeters (2 to 2.5 feet) in diameter.  Lower branches are whorled.
 Leaves are deciduous, simple, alternate, pinnate, odd-pinnate or
bipinnate, borne near the end of branches and 20 to 45 centimeters (8 to
18 inches) long.  The petioles are hairy and pinkish in color.  Each
leaf contains 6 to 19 sub-opposite, ovate or lanceolate pointed leaflets
with smooth margins.  Leaflets measure 4 to 20 centimeters (1.6 to 8
inches) long.  Leaves have a turpentine odor when crushed.  Flowers are
borne after new leaves in terminal racemes or terminal pyramidal
panicles that are 20 to 60 centimeters (8 to 24 inches) long.  Fragrant
whitish flowers can contain male, female or both reproductive organs.
Flowers contain a 0.5 centimeter (0.2 inch) wide calyx, a 0.1 to 0.4
centimeter (0.04 to 0.2 inch) long receptacle, five sepals, five petals
and ten stamens.  There are up to 2,000 flowers per panicle.  Yellow
fruit is a plum-like drupe that grows solitary or in branched terminal
clusters of 12 or more.  Ellipsoid, ovoid, obovoid or oblong fruit reach
2.5 to 4 centimeters (1 to 1.6 inches) long and up to 2.5 centimeters (1
inch) wide.  The skin is thin, smooth and tough.  The fruit pulp is
yellow, translucent, juicy and sweet sour.  Each fruit contains a stone
with zero to five seeds.  Due to limited cultivars and the height of the
tree, there is little commercial production.  Most fruit is collected
from wild plants.  Fruit should be harvested after the start of
chlorophyll breakdown when the fruit turns yellow.  Fruit are shipped in
20 kilogram (44 pound) containers to stores.

Monkeyfruit:

Monkeyfruit is a medium to large deciduous tree with a spreading crown
growing 6 to 9 meters (20 to 30 feet) tall.  Native to the humid
sub-Himalayan regions of India.  Bark is grey and exudes a milky, sticky
latex.  Leaves are large, alternate, leathery, elliptical, pointed, and
10 to 25 centimeters (4 to 10 inches) long.  Leaves fall at the
beginning of the dry season.  Fragrant flowers occur in spherical heads.
 Male flowers are yellow-orange and female flowers are reddish in color.
 Male and female flowers occur on separate heads on the same tree.
Fruit is an irregularly rounded syncarp that measures 5 to 12
centimeters (2 to 5 inches) in diameter and weighs 200 to 350 grams (7
to 12 ounces) when ripe.  Fruit turn from green to yellow with a pink
tinge to brown when ripe.  The skin is velvety.  Each fruit contains 10
to 30 seeds.  Each seed is 1 centimeter (0.4 inch) long, flattened and
pointed.  Fruit have a sweet-sour flavor.

Monos plum:

A medium-sized evergreen shrub growing to a height of 5 meters (16
feet).  Native to Venezuela.  Orange to yellow fruit is ellipsoid and
2.5 to 3 centimeters (1 to 1.2 inches) in diameter.  The skin is smooth
and shiny.  The pulp is yellow-orange in color and the flavor is sweet
to bland.  Each fruit contains one seed.

Mountain cherry:

An evergreen understory shrub or tree growing a height of 6 to 15 meters
(20 to 49 feet).  The tree contains a thin, straight trunk with dark,
vertical creases that grows less than 20 centimeters (8 inches) in
diameter.  Bark is thin, pale tan, whitish or grey in color, smooth, and
easily scraped off.  Branches are iron-colored, thin, long, smooth, and
bend downward.  Leaves are bright green, mostly smooth on the upper
surface and hairy underneath, glossy, simple, opposite, curled,
elliptic, oblong-elliptic, lance-oblong, or elliptic-ovate in shape, and
6 to 15 centimeters (2.4 to 6 inches) long by 3 to 6 centimeters (1.2 to
2.4 inches) wide.  Sometimes, leaves may reach 35 centimeters (14
inches) in length and 14 centimeters (5.5 inches) in width.  Petioles
are 1 centimeter (0.4 inch) long.  Inflorescences are axillary racemes
that are 3 to 12 centimeters (1.2 to 4.7 inches) long.  There are 8 to
16 flowers in each inflorescence.  Bright yellow flowers contain five
green sepals, five narrow separated petals, and a cluster of stamens.
Each flower is 1 to 1.5 centimeters (0.4 to 0.6 inch) in diameter.
Pollinated by bees and insects.  Fruit are ovoid drupes that change
color from orange to bright red when mature and grow 1.5 to 3
centimeters (0.6 to 1.2 inches) long by 1.5 centimeters (0.6 inch) in
diameter.  Each fruit possesses a longitudinal crease.  Two to three
green-brown almond-shaped seeds are located inside the fruit.  The skin
is very thin and smooth.  The pulp is mealy in texture and the flavor is
sweet.

Nance:

A low-branched, slow-growing tree or shrub reaching a height of 10 to 20
meters (33 to 66 feet).  Native to the Caribbean and Central America.
The nance has one of the widest native ranges of all fruits in tropical
America.  The canopy is round-topped and spreading to narrow and
compact.  The trunk may be short or tall and crooked or straight.  Young
branches contain russet hairs.  Leaves are opposite, leathery, smooth on
the upper surface, hairy on the underside, ovate, elliptic or
oblong-elliptic, and 3 to 17 centimeters (1.2 to 7 inches) long by 4 to
7 centimeters (1.6 to 2.8 inches) wide.  Leaf margins are revolute.
Compact terminal erect racemes are hairy and 8 to 20 centimeters (3 to 8
inches) long by 1.25 to 2 centimeters (0.5 to 0.75 inch) wide.  Flowers
are showy, yellow, orange or yellow-red and symmetrical.  Petals are 0.5
centimeters (0.2 inch) long.  Fruit is a round to ovoid drupe that is 2
to 5 centimeters (0.8 to 2 inches) in diameter.  The skin is thin, shiny
and smooth.  When mature, the fruit emits a strong odor resembling
fruity, rancid cheese.  Fruit pulp is yellow to white, juicy, oily and
delicate; flavor ranges from bland, sweet, sour or cheese-like.  Each
fruit contains one woody, yellow stone with one to three white seeds.
The trees are left alone when forests are cleared and are maintained in
a state of semi-wild cultivation; grown as part of a subsistence farming
system.   Fruit are harvested by local residents and are either consumed
or sold to local markets.  Fruit are harvested when fully mature; fruit
are very perishable, but can be stored for 7 months if submerged in
water.  Fruit are harvested throughout the year, once per week.  Fruit
can be harvested during any stage of development.  Fruit are harvested
at the ‘hard white’ stage (almost all the green color has turned
whitish yellow but before the fruit turns soft and falls from the tree)
for juice.  Handling and processing of the fruit differs depending on
the type of product that will be produced.

Natal plum:

A vigorous, dense, thorny, spreading woody shrub that grows to a height
and width of 4 to 5.5 meters (13 to 18 feet).  Native to the coastal
region of Natal, South Africa.  All parts of the tree contain gummy
white sap.  The branches contain 5 centimeter (2 inch) long thorns that
are Y-shaped.  Young branches are green.  Leaves are leathery, dark
green, evergreen, thorny at the tips, opposite, ovate to broad-ovate in
shape, glossy, and 2.5 to 5 centimeters (1 to 2 inches) long.
Sweet-smelling star-shaped flowers are white, tubular, 5 centimeters (2
inches) wide, five-lobed, and occur singly or in pairs at the end of
branches.  Some male flowers contain stamens that are longer than the
style.  Female flowers contain stamens that are the same length as the
style and have no pollen.  Pollination occurs by small beetles,
hawkmoths and night-flying insects.  Dark red fruit is an ellipsoid,
round, oval, or oblong berry that grows solitary on the tree and
measures 2.5 to 6.25 centimeters (1 to 2.5 inches) long by 4 centimeters
(1.6 inches) wide.  The skin is smooth and tender and is coated with a
thin, whitish wax bloom when ripe.  Unripe fruit contain gummy latex.
Pulp is pink to strawberry-colored, juicy, and contains milky sap.  The
flavor is sour.  Each fruit contains 6 to 16 small, thin, flat brown
seeds that can be consumed.

Noni:

A small, evergreen tree or large shrub that grows to a height of 2 to 10
meters (6.5 to 33 feet).  Native from Southeast Asia (Indonesia) to
Australia.  The tree sometimes obtains support from surrounding trees.
There is an extensive lateral root system and a deep taproot.  The trunk
is 15 or more centimeters (6 inches) in diameter.  The sapwood is soft
and yellow-brown in color.  The bark is smooth to slightly rough and
grey to light brown in color.  Twigs are light green, stout and
four-angled.  Dark green leaves are simple, opposite, membranous,
pinnately veined, elliptic, elliptic-ovate, or oblong in shape, smooth,
glossy, leathery, and 15 to 45 centimeters (6 to 18 inches) long by 7 to
25 centimeters (3 to 10 inches) wide.  Stipules are connate or distinct,
round, deciduous, and 1 to 1.5 centimeters (0.4 to 0.6 inch) long.  The
tip is entire or two- to three-lobed.  Petioles are stout and 1.5 to 2
centimeters (0.6 to 0.8 inch) long.  Tiny, white, waxy flowers are
tubular in shape, perfect, and in ovoid to globose heads.  Flowers occur
solitary or in groups of 2 to 3 in the leaf axils.  Peduncles are 1 to 3
centimeters (0.4 to 1.2 inches) long.  Individual flowers contain a
truncated rim calyx, a white, five-lobed corolla with a greenish white
tube (0.7 to 0.9 centimeters (0.28 to 0.35 inch) long) and
oblong-deltate lobes (0.7 centimeters (0.28 inch) long), five stamens,
and a 1.5 centimeter (0.6 inch) long style.  Mature yellowish white
fruit is a syncarp that resembles a potato.  Fruit is ovoid to globose
in shape and 5 to 14 centimeters (2 to 5.5 inches) long by 3 to 7.5
centimeters (1.2 to 3 inches) in diameter.  Unripe fruit is light green
in color.  Pulp is translucent in color, fleshy, juicy and soft.  Each
fruit contains over 260 brown colored, fibrous, tough seeds that measure
0.4 to 0.9 centimeters (0.16 to 0.35 inch) long.  The flavor is acidic,
aromatic; resembles putrid cheese.  Significant source of food for
indigenous societies.  Noni plants can begin to bear fruit about 9
months to 1 year after planting. Fruits can be harvested at this early
stage, although they are generally small and few. Some farmers choose to
forgo harvest during the first or second years in favor of pruning back
the branches instead.  Several varieties of noni vary in fruit size and
leaf shape.

Olive:

A small to medium evergreen tree growing 4 to 10 meters (13 to 33 feet)
high and about 9 meters (30 feet) wide.  Native to the Mediterranean
region, tropical and central Asia and parts of Africa.  Grown throughout
temperate and tropical regions of the world.  Olives have been used by
humans since 9000 BC.  Cultivation of olive trees began between 4000 and
3000 BC in Asia Minor, the eastern Mediterranean, or the Nile Basin.
Over the years, there have been many differing opinions as to the
nomenclature and hierarchies within the genus and species.  In 2002, a
revision of the scientific nomenclature occurred.  Today, the cultivated
olive is known as Olea europaea L. subsp. europaea.  Trees may live for
500 years.  Trunk thickness varies according to variety; trunk color
ranges from grey to grey-green.  Trees not in cultivation contain
multiple trunks that originate from a single broad base.  The crown is
rounded, but somewhat uneven.  Un-pruned trees are dense and bushy.  The
root system differs depending on the method of propagation.  Seedlings
form taproots, while cuttings form multiple adventitious roots at the
cutting base.  Rigid evergreen leaves are dark green and are covered
with a thick waxy cuticle on the upper surface.  Undersides of leaves
contain the stomata that are protected by densely distributed white or
silver trichomes.  Leaves are simple, entire, opposite, lanceolate,
ovate-lanceolate, or elliptic and 3 to 9 centimeters (1.2 to 3.5 inches)
long by 1 to 2 centimeters (0.4 to 0.8 inch) wide.  Each leaf contains a
central vein, a smooth margin and a short petiole.  Leaves persist on
the tree for 2 to 3 years.  Leaves of juvenile trees are shorter and
more rounded.  A mixture of perfect and staminate flowers are borne on
1.5 to 4.0 centimeter (0.6 to 1.6 inch) long inflorescences.
Inflorescences are borne from buds in the leaf axils of 1-year-old wood.
 Each paniculate inflorescence consists of a single central axis from
which lateral branches arise.  The central axis and lateral branches
contain flowers that occur singly or in groups of three to five.  Each
inflorescence contains 10 to 40 small flowers.  Individual flowers are
radially symmetrical and contain four white to yellowish-white petals
that are united at the base.  Pollination is by wind.  Pollinizer trees
are spaced at 200 ft (61 m) in the orchard.  Olive pollen contains more
than 50 different proteins in each pollen grain, making it highly
allergenic.  Fruit is a small drupe that is round to elliposoid, 1 to 4
centimeters (0.4 to 1.6 inches) long, and 0.5 to 2 centimeters (0.2 to
0.8 inch) in diameter.  Fruit size varies according to variety.  The
skin is smooth and consists of a thick waxy protective cuticle.  The
stomata on the surface of the fruit transform into lenticels that appear
as light-colored spots at green maturation.  Each fruit contains one
pit.  Throughout most of its growth, the fruit is green.  During
maturation, the fruit turns yellowish and darkens from reddish to purple
to black.  Numerous fruit are produced from a single tree.  The four
major types of table olives include Spanish-style green olives that are
harvested green and treated in alkaline solution, Sicilian-style green
olives that are treated in brine, untreated black olives, and
brine-treated California-style black olives.  Over 1,200 different olive
cultivars have been developed.

Papaya, Mountain:

A fast-growing, subtropical herbaceous succulent plant that grows 1 to 5
meters (3 to 16 feet) in height.  Native to the high slopes of Ecuador
and Colombia.  The trunk is erect, branched, thick and rounded at the
base and thinner toward the top.  The trunk surface contains big
symmetric foliar scars.  Branches are upright, rigid, and may produce
secondary branches.  The plant has the appearance of a small palm.
Leaves are dentalobulate, pentagonal, pubescent, and 20 to 26
centimeters (8 to 10 inches) long by 34 to 40 centimeters (13 to 16
inches) wide.  The leaves have a medium lobule and three to five
oblong-acuminate side lobelets.  The petiole is 17 to 34 centimeters (7
to 13 inches) long.  Plants may produce only female flowers, only male
flowers, or hermaphrodite flowers.  Compared to female flowers,
hermaphrodite flowers produce smaller fruit with more pronounced
elongated lobules and thinner pulp.  Flowers are pubescent.  Fruit is
similar to the common papaya.  It is a five-sided, oblong-ovoid to
obovoid berry that is 6 to 20 centimeters (2 to 8 inches) long by 3 to 8
centimeters (1.2 to 3 inches) wide.  Each fruit contains strongly lobed
longitudinal segments.  The skin is smooth, tough and changes color from
green to bright yellow when ripe.  Pulp is yellow and the flavor is
sour.  Each fruit contains many brownish, rough seeds.  The plant can
live for up to 17 years, but for commercial production, the lifespan is
only 5 years.  Unlike the common papaya, the climate requirements, the
tree’s growth habit, the fruit type and general orchard management of
the mountain papaya are different.

Patauá:

A large, vigorous, single-stemmed canopy palm growing 15 to 25 meters
(49 to 82 feet) tall.  Native to northern South America.  The trunk is
smooth and 15 to 40 centimeters (6 to 16 inches) in diameter.  The crown
is funnel-shaped and contains 8 to 16 spirally arranged, large, erect,
feather-shaped, pinnately compound leaves that grow 3 to 8 meters (10 to
26 feet) long.  The petiole grows 1 meter (3 feet) long.  There are 100
to 200 pinnae arranged in a single plane along the rachis.  Pinnae
measure 1 to 1.5 meters (3 to 5 feet) long.  The sheath is open to the
base and contains abundant black, stout fibers at the margins,
intermixed with brown wooly fibers.  The inflorescence is paniculate,
measures 1.2 meters (4 feet) long, and has several hundred branches that
are around 1 centimeter (0.4 inch) long.  Each branch bears numerous
cream-colored flowers.  Each panicle bears over 1,000 round to elongate,
dark purple drupes that are pointed at the apex and 2.5 to 4 centimeters
(1 to 1.6 inches) in diameter.  The skin is smooth and shiny.  Each
fruit contains a single seed and 6.5 to 8% oil by fresh weight.  Some
believe the pulp tastes like chocolate.  The tree can live 50 to 80
years.

Peach palm, fruit:

A palm with multiple trunks that grows 20 to 30 meters (66 to 98 feet)
tall.  Native to Central America and southwestern Amazonia including
northern Bolivia, southeastern Peru and western Brazil.  Carbonized
seeds of this palm date back 4,000 years.  All cultivated populations of
this palm are listed as Bactris gasipaes Kunth var. gasipaes and all
wild populations are now listed as Bactris gasipaes var. chichagui (H.
Karsten) Henderson.  Stem diameter ranges from 15 to 30 centimeters (6
to 12 inches).  Internodes, leaf bases, and leaf midribs contain black,
brittle spines.  In some plants, spines do not exist.  The crown
contains 15 to 25 dark green pinnate fronds.  Leaflets of the fronds
grow at different angles.  Long strands of inflorescences occur among
the axils of the senescent fronds.  Separate tiny yellowish male and
female flowers are contained within the same inflorescence.  The fruit
is a drupe that varies in shape and grows in clusters of 50 to 1,000.
One stem can contain 5 to 6 clusters of fruit.  Each fruit grows 2.5 to
5 centimeters (1 to 2 inches) long and weighs 10 to 250 grams (0.4 to 9
ounces).  The skin is thin, smooth, fibrous and red, purple, orange,
yellow or green in color.  The humid, starchy, oily pulp is yellow to
orange in color.  Most fruit contain a fibrous, oily, white,
conical-shaped, 8 to 10 centimeter (3 to 4 inch) kernel.  The flavor of
the fruit is fruity to chestnut-like.  The seed is nutty, oily and has a
coconut-like flavor.  The aroma of the fermented pulp smells like ripe
peaches.  A typical bunch weighs 1 to 25 kilograms (2 to 55 pounds).
Wild-type fruit are rich in oils and domesticated fruit are rich in
starch.  Currently, the plant is most important in both Latin American
and world markets for its heart-of-palm.  This palm is the only
domesticated palm in tropical America.

Persimmon, black:

A slow-growing small tree that reaches a height of 6 to 12 meters (20 to
40 feet) and a width of 5 to 8 meters (15 to 25 feet).  Native to
southern and central Texas and northern Mexico.  The canopy is
symmetrical.  Bark is thin, smooth and peels away to reveal shades of
gray, white and pink on the trunk.  The wood is black, hard and heavy.
Branches are intricate and ascend into the crown in a twisted fashion.
The tree is deciduous from USDA zone 8 northward and remains evergreen
in its southern range.  Leaves are dark green, leathery, alternate,
simple, entire, oblong to obovate in shape, slightly hairy on the
underside, and less than 5 centimeters (2 inches) long.  Flowers are
fragrant, inconspicuous, and greenish to white in color.  Male and
female flowers are located on different plants.  Black fruit are small,
round berries that are 1.3 to 2.5 centimeters (0.5 to 1 inch) in
diameter.  The skin is smooth.  The pulp is sweet and juicy.  Each fruit
contains 3 to 8 seeds.  Fruit are popular to birds and other wildlife.

Persimmon, Japanese:

A slow-growing, upright, deciduous tree that reaches a height of 4 to 18
meters (13 to 60 feet) and a spread to 4.5 to 6 meters (15 to 20 feet).
Native to China, Japan, Burma, the Himalayas and the Khasi Hills of
Northern India.  The tree contains a rounded crown.  Leaves are
leathery, glossy and dark green on the upper surface, brown-silky
underneath, large, alternate, oblong, ovate-elliptic, oblong-ovate or
obovate in shape, and 7 to 25 centimeters (3 to 10 inches) long by 5 to
10 centimeters (2 to 4 inches) wide.  Petioles are short, brown, hairy
and measure 2 centimeters (0.75 inch) long.  During the fall, leaves
turn yellow, orange and red.  Greenish-yellow flowers occur in the axils
of leaves on the current season’s shoot and contain prominent,
persistent sepals.  Flowers may be male, female, or a combination of
both.  Female flowers are solitary and contain a large leaf-like green
calyx that is 4 to 6 centimeters (1.6 to 2.4 inches).  Male flowers
occur as three-flowered cymes.  On many subtropical forms, male and
female flowers occur on separate trees.  Most commercial varieties
produce only female flowers.  Pollination occurs by bees.  Fruit are
berries that resemble tomatoes in shape and color.  Size, color and
shape vary depending on the cultivar.  Fruit can be spherical, conical,
ovoid, oblate, flattened, or squarest and yellow, light yellow-orange or
dark orange-red in color.  Fruit size ranges from 2.5 to 10 centimeters
(1 to 4 inches) in diameter and fruit weight varies from less than 100
grams to 300 grams (3.5 to 11 ounces).  Compared to American persimmon,
Japanese persimmon fruits are larger.  The skin is smooth, glossy, thin
and tough.  Pulp is orange in color; the flavor is sweet when ripe.
Fruit grow solitary on the tree.  Young fruit are highly astringent due
to soluble tannins.  Cultivars that do not lose astringency naturally on
the tree are called astringent-type fruit.  These fruit are further
classified into pollination variant astringent and pollination constant
astringent types.  Some cultivars lose astringency as they develop on
the tree.  These are called the non-astringent type fruit.  These fruit
are further classified as pollination constant non-astringent and
pollination variant non-astringent types.  With variant-type persimmons,
the flesh darkens when it has seeds.  When no seeds are present, flesh
of the variant-types does not turn dark and the astringency is kept
until maturation.  With constant-type persimmons, flesh color and
astringency loss is not changed by the presence or absence of seed.
There are more than 950 cultivars of Japanese persimmon.  The major
varieties are Izu, Fuyu, and Suruga.  Almost all non-astringent
cultivars were developed in Japan.  An important fruit source in China,
Korea, and Japan since prehistoric times.

Pitomba:

A slow-growing, upright, spreading tree that reaches a height of 6 to 9
meters (20 to 30 feet) and a width of 5 meters (15 feet).  Native to
Bahia, Brazil.  The trunk is light brown to tan.  Foliage is dense.
Leaves are dark green on the upper surface, pale green on the lower
surface, evergreen, glossy, opposite, short-petioled, oblong-lanceolate
in shape and 2.5 to 7.5 centimeters (1 to 3 inches) long.  New growth
contains bronze hairs on the undersides of the leaves.  White to
yellowish flowers are borne singly in the leaf axils, long-stalked,
4-petalled and up to 4 centimeters (1.5 inches) wide.  Orange to bright
orange-yellow fruit is ovoid or broad-obovate in shape, 4-lobed, and 2.5
to 3 centimeters (1 to 1.2 inches) in diameter.  The skin is smooth,
thin and tender.  Each fruit contains 4 to 5 green sepals on the apex
that measure 1.25 centimeters (0.5 inch) long.  Within each fruit, there
is one round or 2 to 4 irregular angular seeds.  Seeds are light tan in
color and 1 to 1.6 centimeters (0.4 to 0.6 inch) in diameter.  The soft,
juicy aromatic pulp is yellow in color and has the texture of an
apricot; the flavor is sweet, acid or slightly resinous.  Cultivated
locally and grown in botanical gardens.

Pomerac:

A fast-growing, medium-size tree reaching a height of 12 to 18 meters
(40 to 60 feet).  Native to Malaysia.  The trunk is erect, short, fluted
and 4.5 meters (15 feet) in diameter.  The crown is conical, pyramidal
or cylindrical in shape.  The outer bark is flaky and pale gray, while
the inner bark is pinkish brown.   Leaves are evergreen, soft-leathery,
dark-green, glossy, simple, opposite, elliptic-lanceolate, ovate,
oblong, or oblanceolate in shape, and 15 to 46 centimeters (6 to 18
inches) long by 9 to 20 centimeters (3.5 to 8 inches) wide.  New leaves
are wine-red to pink-buff in color.  Petioles are short, red and 0.2 to
1 centimeter (0.1 to 0.4 inch) long.  Showy flowers are abundant, mildly
fragrant, in short-stalked clusters of 2 to 8, and borne on the upper
trunk, leaf axils, and along leafless areas of mature branches.  Each
flower is funnel-like at the base and is composed of 5 thick, green
sepals, many 4 centimeter (2 inch) long stamens with anthers, and 4
pinkish-purple, dark-red or sometimes white, yellow, or orange petals.
Flowers are approximately 5 to 8 centimeters (2 to 3 inches) wide.
Yellow, pink, rose-red, crimson, purple or red to pink-streaked fruit is
pear-shaped, ovoid, oblong, or obovoid in shape, short-stalked, and 5 to
10 centimeters (2 to 4 inch) long by 2.5 to 7.5 centimeters (1 to 3
inches) wide at the apex.  The skin is thin, smooth and waxy.  Fruit
pulp is crisp to spongy, juicy and white; the flavor is sweet to bland.
Some suggest the flavor is apple-like.  Most fruit contain 1 to 2