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Family:

Myrtaceae (Magnoliophyta)

Accepted Name:

This name is currently accepted.

Common Names:

Surinam cherry, pitanga, Surinam cherry

Description:

Author: Maria Lúcia Kawasaki

Description: Shrubs or trees ca. 4 m tall. Leaves: petioles 3-4 mm long; blades ovate or elliptic, 4-5 × 2-3 cm, drying dark- or brownish-green, paler below, chartaceous, glabrous, pellucid-punctate on both surfaces, the base obtuse to subcordate, the apex acute; midvein impressed on the upper surface; lateral veins 4-8 pairs, salient on both surfaces; marginal veins 2, irregularly arched, the innermost 1-3 mm from margin. Inflorescences axillary, racemose, appearing fasciculate, involucrate, with 2-4 flowers; peduncles inconspicuous; pedicels 1-2 cm long, the bracteoles linear, ca. 1 mm long, early deciduous. Flowers: buds obconical, 3-4 mm long; hypanthium costate, glabrous; calyx lobes ovate to lanceolate, 3-4 mm long; petals ca. 7 mm long, glabrous; stamens to 7 mm long; style ca. 5 mm long. Fruits globose, costate, 2-3 cm diam., glabrous; seeds to 15 mm long.

Common names: Pitanga, Surinam cherry

Distribution: Widely cultivated. Native to southeastern Brazil.

Ecology: Disturbed moist forest on slopes.

Phenology: Fr in Mar.

Pollination: No recorded observations.

Dispersal: No recorded observations but the fruits are eaten by animals and the seeds are most likely dispersed by them.

Taxonomic notes: This description was prepared for the Plants and Lichens of Saba project and it most accurately describes this species as it occurs on this island.

Uses: Widely cultivated as ornamental tree and for its edible fruits.

Etymology: The epithet alludes to the sometimes single-flowered inflorescences.

Flora and Monograph Treatment(s):

Eugenia uniflora L.: [Article] Maguire, Bassett. 1969. The botany of the Guayana Highland-part VIII. Mem. New York Bot. Gard. 18: 1-290.
Eugenia uniflora L.: [Book] Britton, Nathaniel L. & Millspaugh, Charles F. 1920. The Bahama Flora.