ubajay

Photo: Niccaballero — CC BY-SA 3.0 · source

Survives zone 8 through 9

Harvest calendar

Best planted in early spring after your last frost, or in fall before the ground freezes, depending on your climate.

Orange-yellow fruit, sweet-tart and aromatic with a faint apricot note; fresh and preserved. One of the more cold-tolerant Eugenias. Care: Winter protection — mulch, fleece, or a warm wall.

Hardiness

Zone 8–9

Habit

Shrub

Edible part

Fruit

Ripens

Summer

Mature size

Evergreen tree 5–10 m; containerable when young

Light

Full sun to partial

Soil pH

5.5–7.0 (acid–neutral; dislikes chalk)

Environment

Subtropical woodland

Native range

Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia and southern Brazil — gallery forest and subtropical woodland

Status

Both wild and cultivated

Years to fruit

3–5 yrs

Growth speed

Slow to moderate

Spacing

500 cm (197 in) apart — about 25 m² (269 sq ft) per plant

Leaf shape

Opposite, simple, ovate-oblong to lanceolate, 3–6 cm long, leathery and evergreen with a pointed tip.

Root system

Deep and well anchored, with a strong taproot from seed — a genuinely drought-hardy tree once established, and one of the more wind-firm Myrtaceae here.

Fruit description

Globose yellow fruit up to 5 cm across, ripening about two months after the early-spring flowers. Orange, very juicy pulp with a peach-like flavour and a slightly tart finish when fully ripe; usually one or two large seeds.

Propagation

Seed, sown fresh — it is recalcitrant and loses viability on drying. First harvests are typically 3–5 years from seed in warm climates.

Pollination

Self-fertile, better with a partner

The edible parts listed above are a starting point, not a field guide. Identify a plant with certainty — ideally against a local authority — before eating any part of it, and read the full disclaimer. Spotted something wrong? Report it.