From the Manual Of Tropical And Subtropical Fruits
by Wilson Popenoe
The Bakupari
Rheedia brasiliensis
Planch. & Triana
This handsome tree is indigenous to the state of Rio de Janeiro in
southeastern Brazil. It closely resembles its near relative the bakuri
(Platonia insignis).
The fruit is smaller in size than that of the
latter species, and, while not considered so delicious, is highly
prized by the natives, especially when prepared in the form of a doce
or jam.
The tree, which is said to flower in December and
ripen its fruit in January and February, is little known in
cultivation. The fruit is ovate in form, sharp at the apex, and about 1
1/2 inches long. It is orange-yellow in color and has a tough, leathery
skin surrounding translucent snow-white pulp in which two oblong seeds
are embedded. The flavor is subacid, suggesting that of the mangosteen.
Several
other species of Rheedia
produce edible fruits, but none of them is
well known in cultivation. R.
edulis, Planch. & Triana, is
occasionally cultivated in Brazil under the name of Umax do motto (wild
lemon); it is a small, handsome tree with oblong glossy-green leaves
and elliptic yellow fruits 2 inches long. The white pulp is highly
acid. R. macrophylla,
Mart., is said by Jacques Huber to be cultivated
at Para under the name of bacury-pary. Its fruits are said to resemble
those of Platonia insignis, but are somewhat smaller and more acid.
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