Looking for seeds or seedlings of Pitanga aka Suriname Cherry. If anyone has some to trade, please take a look at my list and let me know if there's something you like to trade for. Thanks, WRF

Wow. Could I have been more wrong?!?! How embarrassing. At least I can blame it on the beer. :-) Like I said, I don't have any experience with cherries, and I guess I still don't! So, now knowing it is a crabapple, although it's hard to see in the picture, I suppose that could be sooty blotch & flyspec, then right? IÂve now cut one open, and I see the apple seed structure of an apple but, itÂs a solid red throughout unlike most apples which are white (yeah, I know there is a variety or two of regular apples that are solid red) I'm used to crab apples which are more like the size of regular apples... (unless that neighbor I'm thinking of had a real apple tree that he didnÂt take care of and simply called them crab apples). I knew crab apples could be small, but I never thought theyÂd be this small. The stem, size, and color really looked like a cherry to me. But, I guess this explains why they were harder and had no pit. Now that IÂm less nervous about tasting them, they do have an apple texture. Still quite tart, but really, not all that bad... though I think theyÂd taste better earlier in the season. One other piece of info the spring blossoms are white he said he didnÂt think there was any pink in them. Any attempts on which variety of crab this might be. I wonder which type of moth was on them at this time of year? Any idea when theyÂd be ripe for harvest? Thanks again, -Glenn

Thomas I have or had the fruits above and here is my opinion, which can be different for another person because tastes are not the same. Raja Puri, is a little bit sub-acid banana that I grew before, the varieties that I like are either sweet or for cooking. If you growing for looks this one can take the cold. The red Jamaican I had it fruiting only 1 time in 3 years, I love the taste but is not productive when we get hit by the cold. The surinam cherry, I don't really like the taste it leaves like an aftertaste for me, it is nice as a care free shrub and the fruit is for the birds, it finished fruiting at my house. And we are in blueberry picking season, I highly recommend to visit any of the u-pick places and eat berries as much as you want to. I also have my own which are the Sunshine Blue, Emerald and a pollinator that I don't remember the name. We are coming to fig season, all my figs are loaded... There are a lot of good fruits out there, it all depends on your taste.:) Silvia

Here in Brazil the Surinam Cherry is known as Pitanga and grows wild in certain parts of the country. I have seen them growing wild along the seashore north of Rio de Janeiro. I had them in my yard at the house I had in Florida and they grew quite well with no care at all. In South Florida they are used as hedges to a large extent and kept as small bushes. In Brazil they are frequently found in yards as small trees. They are part of a large group of Brazilian fruit trees belonging to the Myrtacae family, including Jabuticaba, Guava, Araça, Rio Grande Cherry, etc. Since they do grow well in southern Brazil where the temperatures at times get near freezing, at least in higher areas, they are pretty hardy. dk