From the book
Fruits of Warm Climates
by Julia F. Morton
Grumichama
Eugenia brasiliensis Lam.
Eugenia dombeyi Skeels
MYRTACEAE
An often admired but still very minor fruiting member of the Myrtaceae, the grumichama, Eugenia brasiliensis Lam. (syn. E. dombeyi Skeels), is also called grumixama, grumichameira, or grumixameira in Brazil, and sometimes Brazil cherry elsewhere.
Fig. 105: The grumichama (Eugenia brasiliensis) is more
cherry-like than many so-called "cherries" but handicapped
by small size, apical sepals and large seeds.
Description
The
highly ornamental tree is slender, erect, usually to 25 or 35 ft
(7.5-10.5 m) high, short-trunked and heavily foliaged with opposite,
oblong-oval leaves 3 1/2 to 5 in (9-16 cm) long, 2 3/8 in (5-6 cm)
wide, with recurved margin; glossy, thick, leathery, and minutely
pitted on both surfaces. They persist for 2 years. New shoots are rosy.
The flowers, borne singly in the leaf axils, are 1 in (2.5 cm) wide;
have 4 green sepals and 4 white petals, and about 100 white stamens
with pale-yellow anthers. The long-stalked fruit is oblate, 1/2 to 3/4
in (1.25-2 cm) wide; turns from green to bright-red and finally
dark-purple to nearly black as it ripens, and bears the persistent,
purple- or red-tinted sepals, to 1/2 in (1.25 cm) long, at its apex.
The skin is thin, firm and exudes dark-red juice. The red or white pulp
is juicy and tastes much like a true subacid or sweet cherry except for
a touch of aromatic resin. There may be 1 more or less round, or 2 to 3
hemispherical, hard, light-tan or greenish-gray seeds to 1/2 in (1.25
cm) wide and half as thick.
Origin and Distribution
The
grumichama is native and wild in coastal southern Brazil, especially in
the states of Parana and Santa Catarina. It is cultivated in and around
Rio de Janeiro, also in Paraguay. A specimen was growing in Hope
Gardens, Jamaica, in 1880 and a tree was planted in the Botanical
Gardens, Singapore, in 1888, fruited in 1903. It has long since
vanished from both of these locations. An attempt to grow it in the
Philippines in the early 1920's did not meet with success. Neither did
a trial in Israel. An early introduction, perhaps by Don Francisco de
Paula Marin in 1791, was made in Hawaii and the tree was adopted into
numerous local gardens.
The United States Department of
Agriculture received seeds from Mauritius in 1911 (S.P.I. #30040);
plants and seeds from Bahia, Brazil, in 1914 (S.P.I. #36968), and more
seeds from Mauritius in 1922 (S.P.I. #54797). Plants were set out at
the Plant Introduction Station in Miami and prospered. Other plantings
were made in California where it seemed even better adapted but has
apparently disappeared. The United States Department of Agriculture
raised seedlings at Puerto Arturo, Honduras, and transferred some
plants to the Lancetilla Experimental Garden at Tela in 1926. They
flourished there and flowered and fruited well.
Over the years
there have been mild efforts to encourage interest in the virtues of
the grumichama in Florida, mainly because of the beauty and hardiness
of the tree and the pleasant flavor of the fruit but the sepals are a
nuisance and there is too little flesh in proportion to seed for the
fruit to be taken seriously.
Varieties
Variety
leucocarpus Berg. in Brazil becomes a large tree to 65 ft (20 m) high
and has fruits with white flesh. It is not as common as the red-fleshed
type.
Climate
The
grumichama is subtropical, surviving temperatures of 26º F
(-3.33º C) in Brazil. It is better suited to Palm Beach than to
southern Florida. In Hawaii, the tree fruits best from sea-level to an
altitude of no more than 300 ft (90 m).
Soil
The
grumichama does better on acid sand in Central Florida than it does on
limestone in the south. It is reported to prefer deep, fertile, sandy
loam. Sturrock says it grows well in rich clay in Cuba but is adversely
affected by the long, dry season.
Propagation
Wilson
Popenoe stated that propagation in Brazil is entirely by seeds which
remain viable for several weeks and germinate in about a month. Fenzi
says that seeds, cuttings and air-layers are employed, and Sturrock has
mentioned that grafting is easy.
Culture
The
grumichama is of slow growth when young unless raised in a mixture of
peat moss and sand and then given a thick layer of peat moss around the
roots when setting out, and kept heavily fertilized. In Hawaii, it has
taken 7 years to reach
7 ft. Fruiting begins when the plants are 4 to 5 years old.
Season
The
tree is regarded as remarkable for the short period from flowering to
fruiting. In Florida, it has been in full bloom in late April and
loaded with fruits 30 days later. The crop ripens quickly over just a
few days. In Hawaii, the trees bloom and fruit from July to December,
with the main crop in the fall. Trees in Brazil vary considerably in
time of flowering and fruiting so that the overall season extends from
November to February.
Pests
In Hawaii, the fruits are heavily attacked by the Mediterranean fruit fly.
Food Uses
Fully ripe grumichamas are pleasant to nibble out-of-hand. in Hawaii, half-ripe fruits are made into pie, jam or jelly.
| Food
Value Per
100 g of Edible Portion* |
| Moisture | 83.5 g | | Protein | 0.102 g | | Fiber | 0.6 g | | Ash | 0.43 g | | Calcium | 39.5 mg | | Phosphorus | 13.6 mg | | Iron | 0.45 mg | | Carotene | 0.039 mg | | Thiamine | 0.044 mg | | Riboflavin | 0.031 mg | | Niacin | 0.336 mg | | Ascorbic Acid | 18.8 mg |
*Analyses made in Honduras. |
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Medicinal Uses
The
bark and leaves contain 1.5% of essential oil. The leaf or bark
infusion–1/3 oz (10 g) of plant material in 10 1/2 oz (300 g)
water-is aromatic, astringent, diuretic and taken as a treatment for
rheumatism at the rate of 2 to 4 cups daily, in Brazil.
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