THE PITANGA 
A Valuable Fruit of Brazil Which Deserves to be More Widely Cultivated— 
Successful in Florida and California— . 
Methods of Propagation 
A. D. SHAMEL 
Physiologist, U. S. Department of Agriculture, and 
WILson POPENOE 
Agricultural Explorer, U. S. Department of Agriculture 
“that the pitanga dropped from 
the hands of Nature, while she 
was at play one day, and became 
at once a charm to the eye and a delight 
to the palate. Each fruit is a glowing 
ruby, suspended by a delicate stem 
amidst the cool, green leaves of the 
pitanga tree, a challenge alike to the 
covetous eyes of children and of birds; 
nor can the decrepit old man, bowed 
down with the weight of years, escape 
its attractions, for he seats himself 
beneath its shade to meditate upon the 
Eternity which is approaching. Surely, 
Brazil does not have to envy Europe 
her cherry trees, bending in May under 
the weight of their ruby fruits; our 
pitangas surpass them both in beauty 
and in taste.” 
These lines from one of the ablest of 
living Brazilian naturalists testify to 
the esteem in which the pitanga is held 
throughout those parts of Brazil in 
which it is found, and indicate some- 
thing of the beauty of this fruit—rare 
as yet in most other tropical and sub- 
tropical countries, but’ worthy of ex- 
tensive cultivation. 
During our visit to Brazil in 1913-14, 
made primarily for the purpose of 
studying the Navel orange in its native 
home, Bahia, we were particularly 
impressed with the value of two native 
fruits which were found abundantly in 
the coastal cities. One of these, the 
jaboticaba, was described in the July, 
1914, issue of the JouRNAL OF HER- 
EDITy. The other, which is the sub- 
ject of this article, is better known 
outside of Brazil than the jaboticaba, 
le IS said,’’ writes Padre Tavares, 
but its cultivation is by no means so 
extensive as we believe its value war- 
rants. 
Following a stay in Rio de Janeiro, 
our expedition, consisting of P. H. 
Dorsett and the writers, moved to 
Bahia for the purpose of making a 
detailed study of the Bahian Navel 
orange, the parent variety of the 
Washington Navel. The results of 
this study have been described by the 
senior author in the JOURNAL OF 
Herepity for July, 1915. Of the many 
interesting plants found in connection 
with the culture of the Navel orange 
at Bahia, few were so conspicuous and 
none so interesting as the pitanga, 
Eugenia uniflora L., of the Myrtle 
family. Many of the roadways in 
Cabulla and other Navel orange dis- 
tricts of Bahia were found to be bor- 
dered on either side with beautiful and 
well kept hedges of this plant, as were 
the driveways or walks leading to the 
residences of many orange growers, 
which are usually set back some dis- 
tance from the road. Frequently pit- 
anga trees are grouped near the houses, 
furnishing an abundant supply of fruit 
for home use. The general cultivation 
of this plant among the orange groves 
of Bahia, both as an ornamental and 
for fruit production, suggested its possi- 
ble use for similar purposes in the 
orange growing districts and warmer 
portions of the United States. 
DESCRIPTION 
The pitanga, as usually seen, is a broad, 
compact shrub, but occasionally it forms a 
slender trunk and becomes a small tree up to 
30 or 35 feet high. Its foliage is deep green 
179 
