The Grumichama, Eugenia brasiliensis, is an extremely ornamental, subtropical fruit tree, indigenus to the coastal southern Brazil. It's tolerant of an extensive array of soil types (best on rich, fertile, friable loam) and of low temperatures; enduring temperatures of -3ºC in Brazil.

Although this member of the Myrtaceae family it is a great deal admired because of its beauty and hardiness it's yet a very minor fruiting member of the Myrtaceae family. The tree gets generally to about 5m high and its thick leafage making it really suited for use as a hedgerow.

This fruit tree is slender, vertical, reaching a height of 5-10 m, short-trunked and heavily foliage with opposite, oblong-oval leaves 9-15 cm long, 5-6 cm wide. The blossoms are borne individually in the leaf axils, are 2.5 cm wide; have 4 green sepals and 4 white flower petals, and about 100 white stamens with straw like color anthers.

The rounded, 1.5-2 cm wide fruit holds on long stalks it becomes from green to bright-red and finally dark-purple to nearly black as it matures. The skin of the fruit is thin, firm and exudate dark-red juice. The red or white flesh is succulent and samples much like a true cherry with a hint of fragrant resin. There may be 1 or 2 to 3 rounded, hard, greenish-gray seeds 1.25 cm wide and one-half as thick.

Fruit are picked when fully colored, but are delicate and easily damaged by rough handling. High labour prices for unblemished fruit and for processing make this a home garden tree with trivial commercial potentiality. Full ripened Grumichamas are pleasing to nibble out-of-hand. Half-ripe fruits are cooked into pie, jam or jelly.

Over the years there have been modest tries to promote interest in the virtues of the Grumichama primarily because of the beauty of the tree and the beautiful flavor of the fruit. However, the fruit sepals are a setback and there is too little flesh in proportionality to seed for the fruit to be taken seriously.

Propagation of Grumichama is altogether by seeds which stay on viable for numerous weeks and sprout in about a month. Also cuttings and air-layers are utilized, and grafting is uncomplicated. Seedlings fruit at 5 years old. Fruits are heavily attacked by the Mediterranean pomace fly.

Grumichama, eugenia brasiliensis

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