This week we look at more of the interesting tropical fruit species that can be grown in southern Florida. Loquat (Eriobotrya japonica) Right off the bat, we have a couple of confessions to make: Loquat is not a tropical fruit, and in spite of its specific epithet ‘japonica,’ it’s also not Japanese. The truth is…
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The topic of confusion over common names is too big to confine to just one article in this series. Accordingly, this week’s installment deals with two more fruit species that are also called sapotes. White Sapote (Casimiroa edulis) This tree, native from eastern Mexico to Costa Rica, has a long history in California, where it…
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This week’s installment on tropical fruit species deals with a subject which has been addressed in this space before—the confusion that can occur from relying on common names. What happens often is that a single species may have multiple common names, and that condition can develop even in a relatively small geographic area, particularly where…
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This week we look at more of the interesting tropical fruit trees that we are able to grow in southern Florida. Cashew Apple (Anacardium occidentale) The Cashew Tree is an attractive, mid-sized species with a broad canopy. It produces large, leathery green leaves and yellowish-pink flowers. Native to arid northeastern Brazil, it was discovered in…
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Often––especially while stuck in snail-paced traffic on a hot, muggy day––we forget some of the unique benefits of living in southern Florida. One of them is the ability to grow a very large variety of tropical fruit species in our yards. Confined to a fairly small patch of land at the bottom of a peninsula,…
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