''Plinia edulis'' (formerly ''Marlierea edulis'') is a tree that grows wild in

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

in the coastal

rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfo ...

regions around the Brazilian cities of

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

and

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of the same name, Brazil's List of Brazilian states by population, third-most populous state, and the List of largest citi ...

. The fruit's local name is cambucá while the tree is ''cambucaz eiro''. The name is derived from an indigenous word for

jar A jar is a rigid, cylindrical or slightly conical container, typically made of glass, ceramic, or plastic, with a wide mouth or opening that can be closed with a lid, screw cap, lug cap, cork stopper, roll-on cap, crimp-on cap, press-on c ...

, ''cambuci'', due to the tree's fruit resembling a type of water container, which some would say is "flying saucer"-shaped.''Oxford Companion to Food'' (1999) "Cambuca" p. 127. The fruit's coloration is yellowy-green, size is 6 cm in diameter and taste is sweet-sour. Cambuca fruit taste resemble light combination of

mango A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree '' Mangifera indica''. It is believed to have originated in the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in Sout ...

and

papaya The papaya (, ), papaw, () or pawpaw () is the plant species ''Carica papaya'', one of the 21 accepted species in the genus '' Carica'' of the family Caricaceae. It was first domesticated in Mesoamerica, within modern-day southern Mexico and ...

. A member of the myrtle and

eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of Flowering plant, flowering trees, shrubs or Mallee (habit), mallees in the Myrtaceae, myrtle Family (biology), family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the Tribe (biology) ...

family, the tree can grow to a height of thirty feet, and propagation is by seed.

References

External links

Árvores do Brasil

edulis Edulis, edible in Latin, is a species name present in a number of Latin species names: * '' Acioa edulis'', the Castanha-de-cutia, a fruit and timber tree species * '' Aglaia edulis'', a plant species found in Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indon ...

Trees of Brazil Cauliflory {{Myrtaceae-stub