If you mean deciduous-- no, shouldn't be. If you mean delicious-- depends on what you like. If you mean insidious-- hmmm, can't answer that.

Hopefulauthor you are correct in your spelling...lots of people spell it surinam cherry but it should be spelled suriname cherry like the country of its origin in south america. As for it being deciduous...no I don't think so...at least not mine however they do turn a beautiful red in cold weather like mine has. The new foliage is also red.

if you have it outside in zone 5, it is dead... mine is outside and it is a nice bright red color. I live in Sacramento... nice and cool and wet during the winter.

Lisa, sorry, I meant deciduous..lol..
Kam and Heathen, the plant looks like he%%..I got it last summer, had it outdoors in 'summer', (nope, I wouldn't even think of keeping it oudside in winter in z5)
Kam, all the leaves have dried..I need to take plant outside and brush leavss off..I was planning on cutting a stem to see if the inside was green..I'll try this tomorrow. I know ppl here in z5 grow Suriname as bonsai, and they live throughout the yr. Ok thanks for your help. Toni

I'm sorry Toni I don't have a clue on how to care for suriname cherries as houseplants. Perhaps the humidity is too low in your house...you can put the plant in it's pot over a tray with pebbles and fill the bottom tray with water..this usually helps increase humidity. Or maybe you overwatered it...

Kam..thanks for your help. The humidity in my house ranges from 50-60%..I have a standard humidifer in the LR, 2 indoor fountains in the front plant room, a small humidifer upstairs, and plants are misted daily, oh and showered in sink/showered once a wk. Maybe it needs even higher humidity though. I have the plant on pebbles..buy a new bag every summer and after bringing plants indoors in fall, those that need high humdiity are placed on stones and kept filled w/water. Nope didn't overwater..I let my plants dry out before watering..I haven't fertized this winter, so that can't be the problem. At least I don't think so..My dh bought me this plant iin the summer and I vowed to really try keeping it alive..I grow citru in my house and they do fine..in fact, the 2 in the house are in the upstairs BR w/less humidity than down here. The others are in my gh..Ok, thanks for your help..I'll keep trying..Maybe a dose of SuperThrive will help..or a miracle..lol..Toni

Wow Toni you certainly have been working hard for that plant...it probably isn't your fault. That's amazing all you do...kudos!

Thanks Kam...Well, like I said, I'll wait until it warms up outside, remove whatever dead leaves are left, then scrap of piece of bark..if it's still green then there's hope..it wasn't a cheap plant..Ppl grow these as bonsai's in cold climates..I'd like to hear from someone who does.
Anyway, thanks for your help, Kam, Toni

I have a number of the Surinam Cherry Plants. They are very hardy. I have over wintered them in the house for 2 years. Very few of them die over the winter. The two that I have that are grafted varieties have lost more leaves than the plants from seed. I have them in a back room with florescent lights and natural light coming thru the window. I have noticed that some tropical plants will lose leaves as a way of adapting to the new environment. They often grow smaller leaves that stay on until they go outside. I have some key limes and a kaffir lime, while not growing much during the winter, they have lost very few leaves. It sounds like you are doing a good job of taking care of the plants. Good luck.

Kamehia, Surinam is not the country of origin for the suriname cherry. The country of origin is Brazil.

Is there a botanical name for this plant? I looked in all my plant books including Horticulutral Society A-Z of Garden Plants..
The correct spelling is Suriname...I can't find where it originated.
It's looking awful..broke a piece of twig and it just snapped off, no green..darn it..
Does it require full sun? I had in a south window all winter. My house is kept humid and air circution.
Embead..how many cherries do you grow? are they all from seed? That's terrific..
I too grow many citrus..some are kept in a small gh overwinter, some in my house. I have Key and Persian limes coming in as soon as temps permit. It's just too cold to ship now.
yes, most tropicals slow down in winter. But now the days are getting longer and plants are coming to life. Can't wait until 90 degrees..Toni

Botanical name is Eugenia uniflora. It's also known as pitanga and Brazil cherry, though the latter name is used also for E. brasiliensis.

The spellings Suriname and Surinam have historically both been in use for the country, probably depending on what language you are speaking, just like Brazil, Bresil and Brasil.

As for its origin, I get the impression that it's so widely cultivated in South America that no-one's quite sure. Looking at TROPICOS database (http://mobot.mobot.org/cgi-bin/search_vast) the greatest concentration of collections seems to be from Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Peru, but that may only reflect Missouri Botanical Garden's areas of interest.

We can grow it outdoors here in Sydney though it does better a little further north. It's briefly deciduous here in spring, flowering with the new bronze foliage. My 6 ft plant in a tub has flowered but not yet fruited. They seem to produce only occasional fruits at this latitude.

Tony, have you been to see the Wizard? LOL
Ok, I checked my encyclopedia and couldn't find any of the names you mentioned. Then I went to www.desert-tropicals.com and they had a pic of Suriname and it's origina which is Brazil. I also checked a company at www.almostedenplants.com I searched, and found they didn't have any info regarding the suriname..Then checking under favoirtes, really don't recall where I found it..So, not only does it display botanical/common names, but they sell plants..So, I ordered 3 new plants..LOL..a varagated Angel Wing Jasmine, Tea Camellia, (but still looking for a larger specimen) and Varagated Serissa that I'll probably use as a bonsai. They have many plants, but most were out of stock, including many citrus. Though I only purchase citrus from 2 places I know and trust.
Anyway, thanks for all the help..Toni

Hello Sorry about the slow response! I have about 30 Surinam cherry plants. I have 4 that I bought from nurseries and the rest were grown from seeds. The only two that are old enough to produce fruit produce very bad fruit. Someone described it as tasting like kerosene, bell peppers and cigarettes and I think that is very close to what they taste like. The good thing is that I do not have to eat the fruit to tell if it is bad I can now just smell it and pick up the hint of KEROSENE!

Does anyone know when would be a good time to go to Florida and find a Surinam cherry with fruit on it so I can find a good plant? Or does anyone have a good plant with fruit on it that they would be willing to sell? (saving me a trip to Florida?).

I bought the plant with the bad fruit from a man who swore that it was not the hedge variety with the bad fruit but one grown for fruit quality. I have 2 more from another nursery but they are not old enough to produce, I was told they were a variety that produces good fruit but when I asked for specifics I was not given details.... All my other plants are young plants from seed and may or may not produce good fruit.

Has anyone propagated these plants from cuttings or by grafting?

Mmmm...kerosene, bell peppers and cigarettes, yum!!! Makes me want to grab a handful of Pepsid just thinking about it...

The ones I've tasted weren't THAT bad, although not something I'd go out of my way to eat. Kind of like a sweet/sour pimento. If you're the kind of person who likes pepper jelly, you'd probably go for it. I don't know if they were the "good" or "bad" variety, people mostly use them for hedges here, or make jelly out of them. I think I'd rather look at the fruit than eat it.

Has anyone tried growing this in Z9? Does anyone have a wholesale source in the top half of Florida - I'm in Jacksonville, thanks, leslie

Leslie suriname cherries are hardy to about 24 degrees I think...so they would be very marginal growing in Jacksonville.

Aloha,

I don't know if they are deciduous or not, ours hasn't ever lost all it's leaves. We've got a surinam (suriname) cherry tree up by the chicken coop and it gives quite a bit of fruit usually in late spring or early summer. Really really tart but with a good flavour. It is just one tree, though, so as the fruit ripens, I gather them up and keep them in the freezer until there are enough to make jam.

Finally figured out a good recipe to make surinam jam. Basically it is 50% fruit to 50% light brown sugar and just a hint of lemon and ginger root. Smush the seeds out of the fruit and pick any stems and leaves off. Simmer the fruit in a little bit of water or steam them until they are soft, then run them through a ricer (old fashioned food mill sort of a thing). That takes out any missed seeds and the skins but lets the pulp go through. Then put the fruit puree with an equal amount of the sugar and a couple slices of ginger root and a squeeze or two of lemon. Simmer and stir occasionally until it clumps off the back of a spoon. At that point it should "set" and become jam. Then put it in sterile hot jam jars with melted wax on top. It has a lot more flavour as jam than as jelly.

If it isn't cooked long enough, it won't set as jam, but will still make a pretty good sauce for pancakes.

A hui hou,
Cathy

The Suriname cherry is a common name for Eugenia uniflora but there are other Eugenia spp which might be similar.
E. javanica is one such. Other Eugenia are medium to large trees. All appear to have fruits with little to recommend them in the line of taste or flavor.

Hamakua, aloha froma kama'aina!
Our suriname cherry has delicious fruit, and very tart/sweet sort of like a cross between a tomato, grape and strawberry! I love them, but you have to pick them when they just fall off the tree. Unfortunately the birds get most of them :)

An update..My cherry is just hanging on..I fed it and used Superthrive..
Is there any special food I should be using for the cherry?
I've talked to ppl who grew them as bonsai, and considered it since it's still small. Thanks, Toni

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

Leslie, I live in Jax, FL (Duval County) and have a Surinam Cherry living outside for 5 years now without dying or even damage at all... I just put it in the ground last spring, in the container, it never fruited, so we will see this Spring if it will fruit in the ground, but yes, you can grow a Surinam Cherry in Jax, FL zone 9a...Here is a great place to buy one or any other tropical fruit tree... great prices... $8 for a surinam cherry plant.... http://www.organicfarm.net/

I have a tree with bare bark and the most delicious smelling fruit in my greenhouse labeled Surinam Cherry. The fruit though is red and round, not ribbed as the photos on the internet show. Does anyone know if this is a true surinam variety or miss labeled??

I do not know of any varieties that are not ribbed, I would say it is mislabeled.

Can you post a pic?

The Barbadoes (Ascerola) Cherry does not have ribs. It does have several seeds. Quite yummy though some people have allergic reactions to the plant itself.

Grows and fruits well at Gosford,NSW perhaps it does not like being confined to a pot which may cause the fruit to drop. As with the other post from Australia it flowers while dropping its leaves late winter/spring. New leaves are red. On my morning walk in Redcliffe, Qld. I often pick the fruit in season if the birds don't beat me to it. I reckon they taste a bit like a Red Ruby Grapefruit which is good as I'm not allowed to eat grapefruit. It also seems to have more than one flush of fruit. Makes a very good garden/hedge plant in SE Qld probably better than our native lilypillies Syzgium spp. to which it is related

I got a free Surinam Cherry from Plantogram.com. Please do not plant these trees outside in Florida. They are classified as a Category I evasive tree on the Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council http://www.fleppc.org/ website. They are replacing Florida native plants. I think if you can control the fruit, they might be ok, DO NOT PLANT OUTSIDE.

Here is a link that might be useful: Florida EPPC's 2011 Invasive Plant Species List

Pitanga or Surinam Cherry