Myrciaria cauliflora
Jabuticaba, or the Brazilian grape tree, is a very strange plant native to the South Eastern parts of Brazil. What makes this plant so strange is that it fruits from its trunk. No, I did not make that up, and no the picture has not been photo shopped. Initially, yellowish white flowers will appear all over the trunk and main branches, these flowers will then turn into fruit, about 3 – 4cm in diameter. Inside the thick purple skin is the soft gelatinous flesh of the fruit, along with 1 – 4 black seeds. The fruit is sweet and can be eaten as is or made into a wine or liqueur. Unfortunately, the fruit does not keep long when off the tree and will start to ferment after about 3 or 4 days. I believe this would be a fascinating tree to have in the yard, but I'll bet I couldn't get it to grow. Isn't that always how it goes?
If you want to see some more strange and marvelous fruit plants, you can find the at Listverse, with pictures of the fruit.
Coffee out on the patio this morning. High of 84 or so is predicted.
