Eugenia selloi

Pitanga-tuba (Eugenia selloi)
Scientific name	Eugenia selloi[1]
Common names	Pitanga-tuba; pitangatuba; pitangola; pitangão; pitanga-amarela
Genus	Eugenia
Family	Myrtaceae
Order	Myrtales
Habit	Evergreen shrub or small tree, usually about 1–2 m, sometimes to about 2.5 m
Native range	Eastern Brazil
Fruit	Thin-skinned berry, bright yellow when ripe, about 4 × 3 cm
Propagation	Seed

Eugenia selloi, known in Brazil as pitanga-tuba or pitangatuba, is an evergreen shrub or small tree in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. It is native to eastern Brazil, where it grows in forest habitats, and is occasionally cultivated for its edible, acidic fruit.^[2]

Description

The plant is usually a shrub about 1–2 m tall, described in a broad horticultural account as evergreen and sometimes a small tree.^[2] Fruit used in research at a São Paulo farm came from plants about 2 m tall with dark green leaves,^[3] and a later study places the species at up to about 2.5 m.^[4] The fruit is a berry with a thin skin and thick, juicy pulp. Studied fruit was oblong, bright yellow, about 4 cm long and 3 cm wide, with an intense bittersweet scent;^[3][4] a broader account lists white or yellow fruit about 7 cm by 5 cm, so reported size and color vary with the account and form.^[2]

Cultivation

The species is native to Atlantic-forest country in eastern Brazil; the fruit used in the studies came from a subtropical Atlantic-rainforest farm at about 612 m elevation in Campina do Monte Alegre, São Paulo.^[3]

Soil and water

The native setting is moist Atlantic forest rather than dry or waterlogged ground. As a habitat-based inference, a moisture-retentive but freely draining soil with organic matter is a reasonable starting point; confirm this for the individual site and container rather than treating drainage or irrigation as fixed requirements.^[3]

Sun and humidity

Several coastal California growers find the plant grows and fruits better with dappled light or part-day shade than in full sun. In one report, matched 25-gallon plants on a west wall with midday shade protection fruited well while the same plants in full sun set no fruit; other growers saw full-sun leaves burn and defoliate before regrowing, and a greenhouse plant fruited well under 50% shade cloth.^[5] These are first-hand reports from a mild coastal climate, not a tested universal light requirement.

Seasonal changes

Plants in mild coastal gardens kept flowering through the summer.^[6] Cold response varied between reports: one seedling survived a night near −1 °C (30 °F) under 10 cm of snow without branch loss, leaves turned purple and dropped near freezing, and a small plant defoliated but regrew after below-freezing nights; an unprotected, large in-ground plant was killed near −7 °C (20 °F). An adapted in-ground plant with drip irrigation was described as dependable.^[5][6] These individual outcomes do not define a tested hardiness limit.

Propagation

Seed is the documented propagation route.^[2] Growers describe seedlings as slow to get going and then accelerating once established.^[5] One seedling-raising grower finds pitangatuba transplants well at a small size, around the stage at which many Eugenia seedlings in the same operation are lost after the first true leaves.^[7] Sow fresh, clean seed in a free-draining medium and keep it evenly moist; this is a practical starting method from the seed-propagation record rather than a tested protocol.^[2]

Flowering, fruiting, and harvest

In one report, plants flowered through the summer; hand-pollinating a single bush gave only one or two fruit, and the grower then bought a second bush for cross-pollination, with self-incompatibility uncertain.^[6] Small fruit that dropped green ripened on the kitchen counter in the same report, while fruit left to over-ripen turned mushy and poor-tasting.^[6] Harvest as the fruit shows ripe color, and handle the thin-skinned, soft berry carefully.

Fruit and uses

The ripe fruit is eaten fresh; one grower describes an aroma like passion fruit, guava, and mango with a sour but tropical taste and soft, juicy pulp around one relatively large seed.^[6] Processed uses include juices, sherbets, and jellies.^[2] In Brazilian folk medicine the plant has a traditional use for skin depigmentation and vitiligo, and the fruit contains a photosensitizing substance; this is a recorded folk use, not an established treatment.^[3] The trade name Starcherry was coined by a Florida nursery owner for this species, and the same nursery markets a Eugenia selloi × E. luschnathiana cross as Pitombatuba; both names are commercial claims rather than formal cultivar registrations.^[8]

Photos

References

• ↑ [1] GBIF species match: Eugenia selloi. Accepted exact match; family, order, genus, and synonyms.

• ↑ [2] Useful Tropical Plants: Eugenia selloi. Habit, range, habitat, fruit uses, and seed propagation; compiled secondary account.

• ↑ [3] Lazarini et al. 2020, Anti-inflammatory and antioxidant potential, in vivo toxicity, and polyphenolic composition of Eugenia selloi (pitangatuba), PLoS ONE 15(6): e0234157. Fruit size, common names, habit, collection provenance, and folk use; open access.

• ↑ [4] Lazarini et al. 2022, The phytoactive constituents of Eugenia selloi (pitangatuba), Food Chemistry: Molecular Sciences 3: 100093. Oblong bright-yellow fruit, bittersweet scent, and habit; open access.

• ↑ [5] Tropical Fruit Forum: Eugenia neonitida / selloi growing tips (topic 52569). Firsthand grower reports, coastal California, October 2023: shade preference, sunburn and defoliation, cold response, seedling behavior.

• ↑ [6] GrowingFruit.org: Pitangatuba (topic 64238). Firsthand grower reports, June 2024: flavor and aroma, summer flowering, hand-pollination, cold damage and recovery.

• ↑ [7] GrowingFruit.org: Fruit tree seedlings? (topic 61370, page 22). Grower report by sharq, 2 October 2025: pitangatuba seedling transplanting.

• ↑ [8] Tropical Fruit Forum: Flying Fox Fruits and the Naming of Rare Fruits (topic 58332). Nursery-owner account (FlyingFoxFruits, 3 April 2025): Starcherry name and Pitombatuba hybrid as commercial claims.

Image credits

• Pitangao.jpg — fruit of Eugenia neonitida, a synonym of Eugenia selloi: Sidneypacheco, file page, CC BY-SA 4.0.

• Pitangatuba.jpg — young pitangatuba (Eugenia selloi) specimen: Fredericoscb, file page, CC BY-SA 4.0.

• Pitanga e Pitangão.jpg — pitanga (Eugenia uniflora) and pitangão (Eugenia neonitida, syn. E. selloi) comparison: Sidneypacheco, file page, CC BY-SA 4.0.

• Phyllocalyx edulis Martius.jpg — historical botanical illustration of Phyllocalyx edulis, syn. E. selloi: Martius, file page, public domain.

• Phyllocalyx edulis Revue horticole.jpg — historical plate of Phyllocalyx edulis, syn. E. selloi, from Revue horticole: file page, public domain.