From Asit Ghosh via emal:

Tetiaroa, Tahaa, Tupai, Maupiti – 4 small islands.
Moorea, Huahine, Bora Bora, Raiatea, Tahiti – 5 large
islands.

Those are the names that come to your mind when you dream
of your ideal vacation in some distant tropical island
paradise with azure blue water and with Coconut palms
swaying in balmy breeze. Those names had been made famous
by the likes of a French artist named Paul Gauguin and in
recent times by an American actor named Marlon Brando.

These islands, spread around 17 Deg. South and 155 Deg.
West in the Pacific Ocean, constitute what is known as
the Society Islands.

This is supposedly where the Ambarella (Spondias dulcis
or Spondias cytherea) originated.

SPONDIAS = Greek for Plum
DULCIS = Sweet

The first outsider to see and record the existence of
Ambarella here was one Joseph Banks and his party in
the summer of 1769, who saw trees as high as 60 to 70 ft.

Captain Bligh of the "Mutiny On The Bounty" fame is
credited with bringing Ambarella to Jamaica in 1792.

Spondias dulcis = Journal Of A Voyage To The South Seas,
39, 1773.

Spondias cytherea = Voyage Aux Indes Orientales, 3:242,
t.123. 1782.

The under-appreciated Ambarella comes from the family
Anacardiaceae, that gave us the more popular Mango
(Mangifera indica) and Cashew (Anacardium occidentale).
It is variously known as,

Otaheite Apple,
Hog Plum,
June Plum,
Golden Apple,
Kedondong,
Jew Plum,
Wi Apple
Tahitian Quince and,
Polynesian Plum.

The name Otaheite (old name of Tahiti) Apple offers hint
as to its origin, from Melanesia through Polynesia. And
now it thrives in all the humid tropical and subtropical
areas of the world.

A 65 ft tall Ambarella tree, one of the tallest trees in
Fruit And Spice Park in Homestead, Florida became a victim
of Hurricane Andrew in August, 1992. The following 3
photos, taken in February, are from a dwarf Ambarella tree
in Fruit And Spice Park in Homestead, Florida. The photos
are scanned images of 35 mm prints.

(1) An Young Tree
http://www.geocities.com/asitkghosh/Ambarella1ASIT

(2) Fruit cluster
http://www.geocities.com/asitkghosh/Ambarella2ASIT

(3) Fruit cluster
http://www.geocities.com/asitkghosh/Ambarella3ASIT

The following series of photos show the dwarf Ambarella
from flowering through maturity to ripening, in various
places in Florida.

(4) Blossoms
http://plantsdatabase.com/showpicture/27705

(5) Baby fruits
http://plantsdatabase.com/showpicture/27772

(6) A pair of small fruits
http://plantsdatabase.com/showpicture/27790

(7) A pair of large fruits (Merritt Island,FL)
http://plantsdatabase.com/showpicture/27829

(8) A cluster of 3 fruits (Ft. Myers, FL)
http://plantsdatabase.com/showpicture/27949

(9) A cluster of 3 fruits (Orlando, FL)
http://plantsdatabase.com/showpicture/27985

(10) A cluster of 6 fruits (Miami, FL)
http://plantsdatabase.com/showpicture/28170

(11) Close-up of a pair of Ambarella
http://plantsdatabase.com/showpicture/28174

(12) Close-up of a unripe pair and a ripe pair
http://plantsdatabase.com/showpicture/28199

Ambarella is not grown as a commercial crop anywhere
in the world except in a picturesque island paradise
in the eastern Caribbean, halfway around the world from
it’s place of origin:

St Vincent & The Grenadines.

The 18 miles by 11 miles St. Vincent with Atlantic in
the east and the Caribbean Sea in the west is a rugged
volcanic island with lush forest on rugged mountainous
terrain. While the Windward (east) side of the island is
rugged and wild, the Leeward (west) side is lush and
green with cliffs alternating with black sand beaches.

Strangely enough, even with these diverse and sometimes
adverse natural features St. Vincent is the most fertile
of all Caribbean Islands and boasts a burgeoning coconut
and banana export industry.

And in this climate and soil, a far cry from those of the
Society Islands, Ambarellas grow to a size that is
unmatched anywhere in the world.

Here are 2 photos of the jumbo Ambarellas from St. Vincent:

(13) Horizontal cut into 2 halves
http://plantsdatabase.com/showpicture/28433

(14) Vertical cut into 2 halves
http://plantsdatabase.com/showpicture/28434

P.S.: St Vincent & the Grenadines have "Fruit Fly Free"
status from the US Department of Agriculture, allowing
Mangoes and other products to be exported to the United
States without the hot water treatments (APHIS).
-------------------------------------------------------
Attached Photo #1 = Dwarf Ambarella: Fruit & Pit
Attached Photo #2 = St. Vincent Ambarella: a semi-ripe
one and a ripe one.
=======================================================
Asit


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I've been to

Tahaa, Moorea, Huahine, Bora Bora, Raiatea, Tahiti

and i believe on one of those islands i ate one...

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Exotica Tropicals
Plant Nursery
Brevard Florida

Are they any good? I have never had one.

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surf forecast

To be honest with you dave, we ate so much freeking weird fruit over there, all the textures and flavors started to blur after awhile. The only one that really sticks out for me is the breadfruit.. that stuff really tastes like bread.. or kinda like a pringles..

the only fruit i didnt care for was the fresh mangos- a little too mushy for me. but oh, the pineapples.. right off the plant, dripping like a wet sponge.. mmmmmm

i also tried the Noni- ugh that stuff tastes like kerosene!


PICTURES OF SOCIETY ISLANDS TRIP

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Exotica Tropicals
Plant Nursery
Brevard Florida

Edited: 10/24/2003 at 05:46 PM by paddleout

Gary
My Ambarella (Spondias cytherea or Spondias dulcis) is in a 5-gallon pot since August 2003 and I keep it trimmed to about 6/7 ft. Of course, I had generous help from 2004 Hurricanes and from 2005 Wilma.

It appears to be everbearing with a very slow or no growth during the colder months. Right now, 2
clusters of 2 generations of fruits with 2 different sizes are hanging from the tree. The ripening process
seems to be very slow to none during the colder months.

Now that you mentioned, the fruits in the bigger-size cluster does appear to had been green for a long time.

Is yours a dwarf or no? It it is not, I wouldn't mind getting a cutting or two if and when the next time you decide to prune. Mine is a dwarf, and its definitely growing slow. Not much bigger than 2 or so feet tall. But its had its share of fruit. I picked one which wasn't ripe. They've been on the plant a long time. Julia Morton says:

While still green and hard, the fruits fall to the ground, a few at a time, over a period of several weeks. As they ripen, the skin and flesh turn golden-yellow. While the fruit is still firm, the flesh is crisp, juicy and subacid, and has a somewhat pineapple-like fragrance and flavor. If allowed to soften, the aroma and flavor become musky and the flesh difficult to slice because of conspicuous and tough fibers extending from the rough ridges of the 5-celled, woody core containing 1 to 5 flat seeds.

Gary

It was tagged "Dwarf Ambarella" when I bought it from the Treehouse Nursery. After 2 and a half years, I'm
convinced that it is indeed a dwarf. The height, although it is in a pot, remained 6 ft for the last year and a half.

This almost-ever bearing potted dwarf Ambarella provides edible fruit in the middle of winter, when hardly any other edible fruit is available from your tropical fruit trees.

The older of the 2 clusters of fruit hanging from the tree is light yellow and would ripen very soon.

The photo is of the younger of the 2 clusters, after a light rain.

http://www.asitghosh.com/1ASITAmbarella.jpg

Are squirrels, racoons and the like attracted to these fruits? Being on the plant a long time I was just wondering...

Some of mine are turning orangish. I tried one a couple weeks ago, didn't taste very good. Since its a small plant I'll give it more time to prove its worth. Also, I'll try them at different stages to try to figure it out. I'm hoping my other spondia, a red mombin fruits this year. I trimmed it down to 8', its a very vigorous tree, pretty attractive also. I'll try to get a pic this weekend.

Scott: I haven't noticed much aroma to attract varmints so far, so perhaps not.

I'd be thrilled if someone would be willing to send me a few seeds for postage. I can pay by paypal
phil near houston, tx 77707 z9a

e-mail:nospampjsauber@gmail.com
of course delete the nospam!

Here is my photo of Ambarella (Spondias cytherea or Spondias
dulcis) hanging in clusters from a dwarf tree at ECHO
(Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization), Ft. Myers,
Florida on 3rd November, 2007.

http://www.asitghosh.com/MISC/...echo_ambarella_sm.jpg

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Ambarella

Edited: 01/09/2012 at 08:27 PM by Thaumaturgist

2 Ripe Ambarellas

Not to be mistaken for Amborella, a New Caledonia shrub that appears to be the most primitive living flowering plant (or "most basal angiosperm").  It's taxonomic status has been researched at the Soltis Lab at UF.

Ambarella #8