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pitanga, surinam cherry

Habit Shrubs or trees, to 10 m, glabrous except for few simple coppery hairs on buds, bracts, and bracteoles.
Twigs

slender, compressed distally;

bark reddish, shredding, glandular.

Leaves

drying glossy pale green abaxially, darker adaxially;

petiole channeled, 1–3 mm;

blade ovate, 3–6 × 1.5–3 cm, papery, base rounded, margins merging abruptly into edge of petiole, apex acute to acuminate, surfaces with numerous, small, raised glands, becoming punctate adaxially on older leaves.

Inflorescences

(1 or) 2–6-flowered, short racemes, often appearing fasciculate, flowers rarely solitary;

axis 1–2 mm;

bud obovoid, 3–5 mm;

bracteoles caducous, oblong-lanceolate, 1 × 0.5 mm, base distinct, margins ciliate, apex acute.

Pedicels

gracile, 15–25 mm.

Flowers

hypanthium campanulate, 8–ribbed, 1–1.5 mm;

calyx lobes oblong, subequal, 2.5–4 × 1.5–2 mm, margins ciliate, apex rounded or acute;

petals obovate, 4–6 × 2.5–4 mm, margins ciliate, apex rounded;

disc 2–2.5 mm diam.;

stamens 40–70, 4–6 mm;

style 4–7 mm.

Berries

deep bright red, globose, 12–15 mm diam., 8-costate;

calyx persistent, erect.

Eugenia uniflora

Phenology Flowering and fruiting year-round.
Habitat Hammocks, distrubed areas.
Elevation 0–20 m. (0–100 ft.)
Distribution
from FNA
FL; South America [Introduced in North America]
[BONAP county map]
Discussion

Eugenia uniflora has escaped from cultivation in the flora area and is known from the central and southern parts of the peninsula.

Eugenia uniflora has been widely cultivated since pre-Columbian times. Its native range is unknown, but it is generally assumed to have originated in Brazil or, possibly, northern South America; R. McVaugh (1969) thought that southern Brazil was most likely. The species is prized for its fruit and is also grown as a specimen tree or trained as a formal hedge.

The Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council has listed Eugenia uniflora as a Class 1 invasive, a taxon that displaces native species or disrupts native habitats.

(Discussion copyrighted by Flora of North America; reprinted with permission.)

Source FNA vol. 10.
Parent taxa Myrtaceae > Eugenia
Sibling taxa
E. axillaris, E. confusa, E. foetida, E. rhombea
Name authority Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 470. (1753)
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