Eugenia pyriformis, Sun Drop, Wildlands Farm Grown

Eugenia pyriformis, Sun Drop, is a species that I have totally fallen in love with. This is one of the larger and more charismatic Eugenia spp. The tree gets covered in massive crops of bright globose yellow-orange fruits.  The fruits have a fantastic mix of tart and sweet providing a very complex and enjoyable flavor. The tree itself is very ornamental with it’s bright red new growth contrasting with the dark green mature foliage.  The trees have the potential to get to a pretty good size and will get absolutely loaded with fruits that have a tendency to ripen all around the same time providing with large crops ready for processing.  The tree itself is cold hardy and I think it has major potential in the zone pushers yard.  This tree is something that I’ll be putting a lot of energy into as I think it has major production and consumer potential.  

These seedlings are grown from fruits grown on Wildlands Farm.

Family: Myrtaceae

Name: Eugenia pyriformis

Common Name / Native Name: Uvaia / Sun Drop

Range: Argentina to Southern Brasil

Sun: Full sun

Height: Up to 40’

Width: ~15-20’

Foliage: Beautiful dark green foliage that starts off red. The plant is very ornamental and makes a beautiful plant in the landscape

Flower: Small white flowers in clusters along the branches. 

Fruit: Fruits a little larger than ping pong balls, yellow to orange and soft. 

Soil Type/ pH: Tolerates higher pH soils

USDA Climate Zones: 9a+

Cold Hardiness: Has handled frosts and temperatures around 30*F, others have grown it in areas where it snows briefly with little to no damage. 

Edibility: A really distinct and remarkable flavor. Tones of tart and sweetness make this a great fruit produced into juices or preserves. Some of the sweeter varieties have the potential to be eaten out of hand but still will have notes of sourness.  Fruit can have very little sour flavor tones if harvested at peak ripeness when the fruit shifts to a more orange color. 

Age to maturity: 3-5 years

Sources: 

https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:595694-1

https://tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Eugenia+pyriformis