Eugenia uniflora |
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pitanga, surinam cherry |
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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 |
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Phenology | Flowering and fruiting year-round. |
Habitat | Hammocks, distrubed areas. |
Elevation | 0–20 m. (0–100 ft.) |
Distribution |
FL; South America [Introduced in North America] |
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 | |
Name authority | Linnaeus: Sp. Pl. 1: 470. (1753) |
Web links |