26 BTJLLETIlSr 445, U. S. DEPABTMEISTT OF AGEICULTURE. 



peculiar habit of producing its delicious fruit directly upon the 

 bark of the tree, not only upon the small limbs but upon the trunk 

 and it is said even upon exposed roots, together with the unusual 

 beauty of its synmietrical, dense, umbrageous head of light-green 

 foliage, places it far above the average indigenous fruit tree of 

 tropical and subtropical South America. 



The jaboticaba is extremely popular and highly esteemed by all 

 classes of Brazilians. It has been cultivated for generations, yet in 

 spite of this fact, it is, botanically speaking, but imperfectly known. 

 Horticulturists generally list it as Myrciaria jciboticaha Berg, but 

 Berg himself distinguished and defined three distinct species, M. 

 cmdi-flora^ M. truncvjloroL, and M. jaboticaba, whose fruits are all 

 known under the name of jaboticaba. Tavares,^ in describing these 

 three species, states that they can only be distinguished when grow- 

 ing wild in the forests, since culture produces marked variation from 

 the typical characters and in addition some of the cultivated forms 

 are the results of crosses between the different species. It can easily 

 be seen, therefore, that in studying the trees found in cultivation 

 and attempting to name them accurately, many obstacles are en- 

 countered. 



The geographic distribution of the jaboticaba is stated by the best 

 authorities to be from Rio Grande do Sul on the south to Minas 

 Greraes on the north and from the coast to Goyaz and Matto Grosso on 

 the west. Outside of this region the tree is occasionally seen in culti- 

 vation, as at Bahia, where it does not appear to thrive and is rarely 

 grown. Around Eio de Janeiro it is one of the features of gardens 

 and orchards. Not only are there single trees in many gardens, but 

 occasional small plantations an acre or two in extent. 



The zone of the jaboticaba extends from sea level to altitudes of 

 3,000 feet, or even more. At Petropolis it grows and fruits well, 

 according to Tavares,^ and at Barbacena, in Minas Geraes, where the 

 altitude is 1,168 meters, it seems to thrive, although the winters are 

 sometimes very cool. In this section of Brazil, however, ice rarely 

 forms, even at such altitudes. 



At Lavras, Minas Geraes, nearly every garden contains one or more 

 trees, making the jaboticaba easily the most important fruit of the 

 region. At Pirapora, head of navigation on the Rio Sao Francisco, 

 there are a few gnarled and stunted trees whose abnormal condition 

 apparently indicates that they are near the edge of the zone in which 

 the tree can be grown. 



One of the greatest Brazilian botanists, Barbosa Rodrigues, con- 

 sidered the jaboticaba (PI. XII) the handsomest of all the Myr- 

 tacese. Under favorable conditions it reaches a height of 35 or 40 



1 Op. cit, V. 10, p. 422. 2 Op. cit., v. 10, p. 429. 



