FRUITS OF THE MYRTLE FAMILY 291 



in the open when they are a foot high, and require no unusual 

 care. In California they have proved to be fairly drought- 

 resistant, but they succeed best when watered liberally. Their 

 growth is not rapid under any circumstances, and several years 

 are required for them to reach fruiting size. In the tropics 

 they come into bearing the third or fourth year. 



In Florida no serious enemies of the plant have been noted. 

 E. A. Back has found in Bermuda, however, that the pitanga 

 is one of the principal hosts of the Mediterranean fruit-fly 

 (Ceratitis capitata Wied.), a widely distributed pest in tropical 

 regions. 



Seed propagation is the only means of multiplication of the 

 pitanga in common use. Whip-grafting has been reported as 

 successful but has not been employed extensively. Seedlings 

 sometimes spring up beneath the bushes from fruits allowed 

 to fall to the ground; these can readily be transplanted and 

 saved. Seeds should be planted while fresh, though they may 

 be kept for a month or more if they are washed immediately 

 after being removed from the fruit and then dried. They may 

 be germinated in two-inch pots, or may be planted in flats and 

 potted off when they are 2 to 3 inches high. Germination 

 usually takes place within two or three weeks. Unlike the 

 rose-apple (Eugenia Jambos), which is polyembryonic and 

 produces four or five plants from a single seed, the pitanga 

 produces only one plant from each seed. The young plants 

 grow slowly and do not require frequent shifting into larger 

 pots. Light sandy loam, which need not be very rich, is the 

 best potting soil. 



In Florida and the West Indies the main crop ripens in 

 early spring. The plants flower in February, and the fruits 

 develop very rapidly, maturing five or six weeks after the 

 flowers have fallen. The main crop, which is usually a heavy 

 one, ripens at one time, extending over a period of about two 

 weeks ; following this the plants sometimes produce scattering 



