Plinia edulis (formerly Marlierea edulis) is a tree that grows wild in Brazil in the coastal rainforest regions around the Brazilian cities of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The fruit's local name is cambucá while the tree is cambucazeiro.

Plinia edulis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Myrtales
Family: Myrtaceae
Genus: Plinia
Species:
P. edulis
Binomial name
Plinia edulis
(Vell.) Sobral
Synonyms[2]
  • Eugenia edulis Vell.
  • Eugenia plicato-costata (O. Berg) Glaz.
  • Marlierea edulis Nied.
  • Myrciaria edulis (Vell.) Skeels
  • Myrciaria plicatocostata O.Berg [Illegitimate]
  • Plinia plicatocostata (O.Berg) Amshoff [Illegitimate]
  • Rubachia glomerata O.Berg

The name is derived from an indigenous word for jar, cambuci, due to the tree's fruit resembling a type of water container, which some would say is "flying saucer"-shaped.[1]

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 and papaya. A member of the myrtle and eucalyptus family, the tree can grow to a height of thirty feet, and propagation is by seed.

Cambuca fruits

References

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  1. ^ a b Oxford Companion to Food (1999) "Cambuca" p. 127.
  2. ^ "Plinia edulis (Vell.) Sobral". The Plant List. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
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