Eugenia sellowiana (Perinha, Uvaia do Campo) Seeds

Eugenia sellowiana (Perinha, Uvaia do Campo).

Photo Credits: Pew Gardens, Frutas No Brasil; Harri Lorenzi et. all, and Salvador Alves da Conceição.

Description from Frutas No Brasil, Harri Lorenzi et al.

Eugenia sellowiana DC. Sin : Eugenia lutescens Cambess, Pilothecium lutescens (Cambess.) Kausel. Known as perinha (little pear), uvaia do campo (wild grape), Erect evergreen shrub, branched only at the base, with new brownish branches, 70-90 cm high, usually forming small clumps; found in the savannas of Central Brazil, Minas Gerais and São Paulo. Leaves are simple, leathery, glabrous (brown-tomentose when young on the underside), gray-green in color, 3-6 cm long, with a very short petiole. Flowers usually solitary, axillary, white, long-pedunculated, formed in September-October (in the Southern Hemisphere). Fruits globose-flat, dense-tormentose, yellow, with thin skin, very succulent pulp, pleasant sweet-acidic flavor, with 1-3 loose seeds. They closely resemble those of E. pyriformis, an apparently related species; maturation in October - November (Southern hemisphere).

Uses. It is not cultivated yet, being uncommon in the wild. The fruits are consumed locally in natura in the form of juices, as well as used in jellies and ice creams.

Propagation: Exclusively by seeds.