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Acerola (Barbados Cherry)

Malpighia emarginata

Photo by lika.hoppus
Published on Project Noah
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Field Notes

Description:

Malpighia emarginata is a tropical fruit-bearing shrub or small tree in the family Malpighiaceae. Common names include acerola, Barbados Cherry, West Indian Cherry and Wild Crapemyrtle.

Acerola is an evergreen shrub or small tree with spreading branches on a short trunk. It is usually 2–3 m (6.6–9.8 ft) tall, but sometimes reaches 6 m (20 ft) in height.

Habitat:

M. emarginata can be found in the southernmost parts of the contiguous United States (southern Florida and the Lower Rio Grande Valley of Texas), Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and South America as far south as Peru and Minas Gerais in Brazil. It is cultivated in the tropics and subtropics throughout the world, including the Canary Islands, Ghana, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Zanzibar, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, India, Java, Hawaii, and Australia.

Notes:

Great to mix with orange juice!

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (1)

Fantastic series. If you like you can go to "Missions" (top bar), Join Mission Color Rojo or Color Red and then go to Edit and select This mission.
Photographed
PublishedFebruary 20, 2011

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