FRUITS OF THE MYRTLE FAMILY 



287 



The fragrance they give off when trampled under foot is doubly 

 appreciated as being thought efficacious in driving away flies. 

 The white slightly fragrant flowers are ^ inch broad, and are 

 borne in the axils of the leaves. They have four oblong cupped 

 petals, with a prominent cluster of stamens in the center. The 

 fruit is oblate in form, conspicuously eight-ribbed, up to one 



FIG. 37. The pitanga (Eugenia uniflora), an excellent fruit from Brazil which 

 should be more extensively cultivated in tropical and subtropical regions. (X f ) 



inch in diameter, deep crimson in color when fully ripe, and 

 crowned at the apex with the persistent calyx-lobes. The 

 flesh is soft, juicy, concolorous with the skin, and of aromatic 

 sub-acid flavor. Usually there is one large round seed, but 

 sometimes two hemispherical ones. 



The pitanga is indigenous in Brazil, extending over a wide 

 area. Father Tavares 1 reports that it occurs in the states 



1 Broteria, No. 5, 1912. 



