Barbados cherry

An unusual shrub with delicious fruit high in vitamin C

If you are looking for a medium-sized, evergreen shrub that produces fruit, you might like growing a Barbados cherry, Malpighia emarginata. This interesting plant is also called Acerola or Wild Crepe Myrtle. A second species called Barbados cherry, Malpighia glabra, is mostly ornamental. It produces very little fruit, but its fruit tastes identical to M. emarginata.

Although called a cherry because its fruit has a cherry shape and color, this

interesting shrub is native to Barbados and the Caribbean and does not grow in cold climates where you find true cherry trees. Its bright-red fruit is edible and is high in vitamin C. In fact, it is said that its fruit has the highest vitamin C content of any fruit, with twenty-five times the vitamin C content of an orange. One fruit supplies your daily requirement of vitamin C. In grocery stores, its juice is sold as Acerola juice.

The plant is self-fertile and does not need a second plant to bear fruit. The Barbados cherry has three, tri-cornered seeds in each fruit. The seeds should not be eaten.

At maturity, the Barbados cherry is around 12 feet tall and wide with small leaves and pink flowers. Its leaves are covered with tiny hairs that sting the skin on contact, and it is best to wear long-sleeved gloves when picking fruit.

Plant in full sun and prune annually, as needed. Plants are often grown close together to form a hedge that can be pruned to maintain correct shape. A plant can also be pruned to form a small tree by choosing one strong, vertical branch for the trunk and pruning away lower side branches.

Tiny, pink flowers appear in spurts from September through April, with fruit produced a month after flowering ends. The fruit is popular with birds, and the flowers attract a variety of bees and butterflies, including the White-patched Skipper,

Brown-banded Skipper and Cassius Blue. Root knot nematodes, aphids, whiteflies, scale insects and fruit flies are common pests.

Classified as a tropical/ subtropical plant, the Barbados cherry cannot tolerate temperatures below thirty degrees. The first few years after planting, water regularly. Once the plant is established, water only once a month.

It is thought the Barbados cherry was brought to Florida from Cuba in 1887 by Pliny Reasoner,

a renowned botanist who introduced many plants to Florida. During WWII, seedlings were given to families to add to their Victory Gardens. Later, several thousand seedlings were given to Florida schools to grow to help provide vitamin C to students’ meals.

Scientists at the University of Florida created ‘Florida Sweet’ Barbados cherry that is popular with gardeners. It can be grown in a container or i n-ground. When fully ripe, its fruit has a flavor similar to a tart apple. Ripe fruit bruises easily and can only be stored about three days.

Fruit can be eaten raw or cooked with sugar and eaten as a dessert. Stewed fruit can also be mashed, the pulp strained to remove seeds, and the puree used as a topping for cakes and ice cream, or made into jam. You can also buy acerola in powdered form to add to smoothies for thatextra vitamin C.

For an unusual shrub, try growing a Barbados cherry. Plants are sold on-line.

Happy gardening.

May

PHOTO FROM TEXAS GROWING GARDENER PHOTO BY PAUL BARBANO ABOVE: The Barbados cherry, also known as Acerola, is a shrub that produces red, cherry-like fruit. It is a tropical plant that grows well in our warm climate. RIGHT: Barbados cherries have twenty-five times the amount of vitamin C as an orange. You can purchase these cherries in powder form under the name Acerola powder.

PHOTO BY MICHELLE BLACKWOOD A BARBADOS CHERRY produces fruit with the highest amount of vitamin C of any fruit. Its fruit can be eaten raw, juiced or made into jam.