An unusual tree called Jaboticaba

I think I will have to get me one of these tree's! Thanks for the awareness!

San Diego Nursery

This nursery has a variety of different exotic fruit trees.
I will have to go visit them and see how much they cost.

EDIT: I cant figure out how to post pictures directly to the thread, so I had to link to an external image. ATS Media doesnt seem to work for me

reply to post by isyeye


If you think the exotic tree growing its fruit directly on the trunk and lower branches is odd, then this will blow your mind! I'll bet you have something in your cupboard right now that grows exactly the same way. Still cant guess it? CHOCOLATE!

That's right, the Cacao tree, from which we get chocolate, grows its bean pods directly on its trunk and lower branches as well. I heard this recently on the Food Network show Good Eats with Alton Brown.

Example Image.


Flowers and Young Fruits, Close up.


Higher Resolution, and Mature Fruits.

Looking at a cacao tree it’s hard to imagine that the world’s favorite treat starts out here. It’s a really funny-looking tree. It has colorful, rugby ball-shaped pods which sprout from the trunk and hang on the branches. The pods are so big it looks as if they defy gravity, jutting straight out of the trunk and suspended from the tree’s thin branches. Taken From: allchocolate.com

I wonder if it's anything similar to jackfruit, which in my opinion tastes sort of like bubblegum. The kind I tried was kept in a jar. (Peels and non-edible stuff removed.) It was sloppy and pulpy like an over-ripened melon, but really sweet.

Interestingly enough, jackfruit also comes from a tropical tree and grows off the main trunk of the tree.

Cherymoyas!

Try those, those are LOVED by my famiy
(Parents are Mexican born but citizens of USA)

These babies are EXPENSIVE!
At the local market(I live in California around where the latinos live) they are about $5 a pound.
With $5 you get a small fruit

I wonder if theres Icecream???

it grows here in hawaii, its just not sold often because it goes bad within a day or so of being picked. I've only had it twice, but its very good. the texture is like grape except jaboitcaba is more jelly like and thicker. It's kinda tart. its juicy. it is kinda hard to describe. the flavour is strong.

reply to post by wlord


Do not eat jackfruit. When it's ripe it smells and tastes a bit rotten.

When I first saw how the fruits growth in relationship to the tree, my mind said Palaeolithic or Jurassic.
Now I see that Cacao, my favorite confection, is ancient looking too !

Thanks for the info All

Wow I just saw what Jack fruit looks like and how it grows too. Now that is even stranger as they grow so big
and right out the trunk of the tree too.

reply to post by LightSpeedDriver


We laughed that those look like reptilian juevos.

reply to post by isyeye


I thought the thread title was a misnomer; until I saw the pictures which are startelingly bizzarre and kudos for the thread title which is as good as the material for a change on ATS.

Thank you for bringing us something unique, new and highly unusual! The pictures are wild! Who would have imagined fruit growing out of the tree trunk? Too cool!

reply to post by isyeye


I love these trees and their fruit, I actually have 4 of them as bonsai trees. They make great bonsai because of the fact they have very small leaves. Very strange that there is a thread about this tree on ATS though. Cool though!
thanks for sharing,

aloha!

They look kinda like muscadines. Same thick, dark covering, and are eaten the same way (if at all). Only muscadines of course, grow on a vine. More like grapes.

Please notice the tree is called "jabuticabeira". Jabuticaba is the fruit itself.

My grandma had one jabuticabeira in her garden. Once a year it would give many, many fruits. If you have the chance, you should try it. Its sweet flavor is widely appreciated.

As a side note, the jabuticabeira will start to give jabuticabas only after many years of age. I do not know exactly, but it must be at least 15 or 18 years old.

reply to post by isyeye

Those pics of the flowering trunks and ripe fruit were awesome. I never seen that before. Is that the only fruiting tree that does all that stuff on it's trunk?

S&F first time i see such tree
the fruit are growing on the wood and not the extremities
this tree is very unique and alien like
are those fruits eatable or toxic ?

reply to post by isyeye


You might have luck searching for the seeds online, and growing it yourself. I know...10 to 20 years wait for it to fruit, but you could always plan a trip to South America and try them there!

I've had a nice specimen for a year now. It's supposed to be from cutting. It doesnt seem to grow very fast. As hard as the stalk is even for the size tree I have its even more remarkable that the fruits burst out of the trunk. It maintains a nice uniform shape theres no runaway branches that 'overgrow' outpacing the others darting outwards like with citrus. Younger citrus trees tend to grow quite odd and ngarly if you dont prune them. I'll be giving my hardwood plants an extra powerdose of plant growth regulator hormones compared to the softer plants this year. PGR's (Gibberellic Acid + Benzylaminopurine + Indole Acetic Acid or Indole Butyric Acid) sprayed on trees like papaya cause extreme growth compared to slower growing hardwood trees like jaboticaba, although papaya is odd in growing much like an annual in rate anyways. I had one rare genus papaya relative "Mountain Papaya" sprouted a year ago from seed actually flower and fruit before the first frost last year, from teh same PGR dose that seemed to have no effect on the J.

You might also check out "Miracle Fruit". The experience is referred to as "flavor tripping" because after you suck on the pulp (which you're forced to tongue it for several minutes to get it off the seed) it causes sour flavors to become sweet. The more sour and acidic the sweeter it becomes. A few drops of lemon juice in a full glass of water causes it to taste like the sweetest tea, including the depth of flavors from sweet tea compared to mere sugarfied lemon juice. I had to pay $50 for a small shrub 2 Decembers ago but I've tripled its size and its about to give me the first wave of a 100+ berries, which each one is effectively worth $5 as thats what seedlings go for even though they only grow about 4" the first year! WHats fascinating about this is its like its meant specifically for humans as I'd suspect that most animals out there would simply devour the fruit whole seed and all. Humans tend not to eat seeds especially not large ones and theres not much juice in these so to eat the 'fruit' you have to work on it for several minutes and thats how the miracol chemical impregnates your toungue for about an hour of effect.

Anyways if you're in Tampa I can tell you where I got my Jaboticaba from it was $35 for a 2.5-3' tree. You wont find it at Home Debit or Lowes, while the only other place in town I know would have it will charge $50.

Awesome christmas tree!

Thanks for the post, very cool.

I swear I thought this was a hoax! Then I saw the close up and they actually grow a lot like cherries hanging from the trunk of a cherry tree. I work on a cherry farm in Australia and observe this type of growth all the time, just not quite that spectacular.

I also used to grow the custard apple that some members referred to, flavor is unique and quite intense! Natures chocolate bar... very satisfying if you need a sugar hit. I would describe it as a mix of ripe lady finger banana, nashi pear and good home made custard

Originally posted by isyeye

That is so very, strangely beautiful...oddly it reminds me of something, that particular image, but I can't think of what...either way, thanks for posting it, I'd never heard of it, or seen another tree even vaguely like it...though it is reminiscent of what the Far Away Tree (as invented by Enid Blyton) might have looked like...though the fruits in that case would have been variable...but kind of anyway...though that isn't what it reminds me of, I'm thinking it is something molecular that it looks like, though not. Anyway, stunningly different.

reply to post by isyeye

The fact that the fruit grows directly on the tree is an interesting aspect that I have not heard of before

One other that I can think of is the cacao tree.

The flowers are produced in clusters directly on the trunk and older branches; they are small, 1–2 cm (0.39–0.79 in) diameter, with pink calyx.