286 MANUAL OF TROPICAL AND SUBTROPICAL FRUITS 



The plant becomes an erect shrub or small tree up to 25 or 

 30 feet in height, with slender branches and quadrangular 

 winged branchlets. The leaves, which are borne upon very 

 short petioles, are oblong-ovate or oblong-lanceolate in outline, 

 2 to 4 inches long, acuminate, glabrous, and somewhat glossy. 

 The flowers, which are solitary in the leaf-axils, are borne upon 

 slender quadrangular peduncles. The calyx is closed, splitting 

 when the flower expands, forming several irregular segments. 

 The petals are white and five in number. The fruit is oval or 

 roundish in form, 2 to 3 inches long, sulfur-yellow in color, 

 with soft whitish pulp containing a few seeds of larger size than 

 those of the true guavas. The flavor is acid but pleasant, 

 similar to that of the guava but with little of that fruit's 

 musky aroma. 



THE PITANGA (Fig. 37) 

 (Eugenia uniflora, L.) 



The pitanga is the best of the Eugenias. Outside of Brazil it 

 is not appreciated as it deserves to be, although it is commonly 

 grown in several countries. In its native home it is a popular 

 favorite. Father Tavares observes: "Surely Brazil does not 

 need to envy Europe her cherry trees, bending in May under 

 the weight of their ruby fruits. Our pitangas surpass them 

 both in beauty and taste." 



In the United States the pitanga is usually seen as a broad 

 .compact shrub, but in Brazil it sometimes becomes a small 

 tree up to 25 feet in height. The foliage is deep green and 

 somewhat glossy, the new growth being of rich wine-color. 

 The branchlets are thin and wiry, the leaves subsessile, ovate 

 in outline, bluntly acuminate at the apex and rounded at the 

 base, 1 to 2 inches long, and glabrous. When crushed, the 

 leaves emit a pungent agreeable odor, for which reason they 

 are sometimes scattered over the floors of Brazilian houses. 



