This is a jaboticaba tree. There doesn´t seem to be a translation, but it is sometimes known as the Brazilian grape tree.
The fruit looks just like a grape and is such a deep purple it is almost black. The skin is not edible but the whitish pulp inside is nice and sweet and can be squeezed out into your mouth as you split the skin. Although it is eaten fresh it doesn´t keep or travel well so is also used to make juice, jams and jellies.
What is different and interesting about the jaboticaba is that the fruit grows not in bunches or clusters on branches but individually on the trunk of the tree.
These are still green as they haven´t ripened yet although you can see some beginning to change colour. I´ll try and get another photo when they are ripe as they look even more striking, although it is a question of timing as the residents here strip the tree pretty quickly when the jaboticabas are ready!
That tree is SO amazing - we were fascinated to see the pictures and read your description of it
ReplyDeleteWendy (Wales)
How odd. Never seen anything like it!
ReplyDeleteYou learn something every day, I've never seen or heard of this tree before. So unusual with the fruit growing on the branches.
ReplyDeleteBriony
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Wendy, Rachel and Briony...glad I could share something different. I´m so used to seeing that tree on an almost daily basis that I had forgotten it was probably unknown in England.
ReplyDelete