Popenoe: The Jaboticaba 



321 



Two spellings are current in Brazil at 

 the present time, jaboticaba and jabuti- 

 caba being considered equally correct by 

 some authorities, while others recognize 

 jabuticaba as the best form. The word 

 is usually pronounced by Brazilians 

 zha-bu-ti-ca-ba, with slight stress on the 

 fourth syllable. To designate the tree 

 the sufifix -eira is added, making the word 

 jaboticabeira, or jaboticaba tree. 



tree little studied. 



References to the jaboticaba in scien- 

 tific literature are fewer than one would 

 expect, considering the frequency with 

 which the tree occurs in a large section 

 of Brazil. One of the earliest and most 

 interesting athough erroneous accounts 

 is that given by Piso" in 1658, who says 

 "It is a tall, erect, and elegant tree, 

 bearing extensive branches; it bears an 

 ash-colored fruit the size of a lemon, 

 with sweet juice, and a very thin skin 

 like that of very ripe grapes. It is 

 wholesome and agreeable, especially to 

 persons suffering from fever. It bears 

 no flowers, but fruits from the bark, 

 from the lowest root to the topmost 

 branch and throughout the entire tree, 

 close together in masses, so that the 

 tree looks like one huge bunch of grapes, 

 rather than a tree. A certain species 

 of it grows in the forests of Pagi 

 Tahugurana, but bears fewer fruits as 

 compared with the others. The natives 

 express a sweet and delicate wine from 

 it, which quickly ferments and turns 

 into vinegar unless drunk. Both these 

 trees are found in the vast forests of 

 the interior, and are common in the 

 prefecture of Sao Vicente, according to 

 Emmanuel de Moraes. I must confess 

 that I myself have never seen it, although 

 I sought so elegant a tree with a good 

 deal of diligence in the inland forests." 



Barbosa Rodrigues considered the 

 jaboticaba tree the most handsome of all 

 the Myrtaceae. Under favorable con- 

 ditions it grows to a height of 35 or 40 

 feet, the trunk nearly always branching 

 close to the ground. The persistent 

 leaves are opposite, ovate-elliptical to 

 lanceolate, acute at the apex, generally 

 glabrous, with the margins entire. In 



^Gulielmi Pisonis Commentarium in lacobi Bontii Historiae Naturalis et Medicae Indiae 

 Orientalis, Liber VI, p. 121, Amsterdam, 1658. 



length they var}- from three-fourths of 

 an inch to over three inches, the size of 

 the leaf being one of the characters by 

 which the natives usually distinguish 

 the different horticultural forms. The 

 flowers are small, white, produced in 

 clusters on the bark from the base of 

 the trunk to the ends of the small 

 branches, sometimes so thick as almost 

 to hide the trunk from view. In form 

 they resemble those of the myrtle, with 

 four small petals and a prominent 

 cluster of stamens. The normal season 

 of flowering is said to vary with the 

 different species; in the case of M. 

 caulifiota Barbosa Rodrigues gives it as 

 May in Rio de Janeiro, and in M. 

 jaboticaba September. It is a common 

 occurrence, however, for the trees to 

 flower and fruit several times during the 

 year, when they are in cultivation and 

 supplied with an abundance of water. 



description of the fruit. 



The fruit, which develops rapidly and 

 ripens within two or three months after 

 the time of flowering, is round or slightly 

 oblate, half an inch to an inch and a half 

 in diameter, deep, glossy maroon purple 

 in color, crowned with a small disc at 

 the apex. While sessile or nearly so 

 in M. cauli flora, in M. jaboticaba the 

 fruits are produced upon slender pe- 

 duncles not over one inch in length. 

 Between the two extremes in size there 

 are all gradations, the fruits of M. 

 cauliflora, which are considered the 

 largest, frequently averaging about an 

 inch in diameter as seen in the markets. 

 The skin is thicker than that of the 

 grape, and considerably tougher; it con- 

 tains, beside coloring matters, a large 

 amount of tannin. The translucent, 

 juicy pulp, white or tinged with rose, is 

 of a most agreeable vinous flavor, sug- 

 gestive of the rotundijolia type of grape ; 

 this similarity to the grape is not con- 

 fined to the flavor alone, the external 

 appearance, character of the flesh, the 

 size and number of the seeds as well as 

 the flavor all bearing such a striking 

 resemblance to the grape as to have 

 earned for the jaboticaba the title of 

 "the grape of Brazil." The flavor, 



