Genipa americana L.

Trees 20 m tall, the twigs terete, ultimately angular, the bark smooth, glabrous, the nodes well spaced or crowded terminally. Leaves usually strongly ascending, elliptic, elliptic oblong or obovate oblong, 11-28 cm long, 6-13 cm wide, deltoid or somewhat rounded toward the apex, acuminate, the acumen short, attenuate toward the base, the costa prominulous above, prominent beneath, the lateral veins 11-20, arcuate ascending, thin coriaceous to coriaceous, shiny and glabrous above, often drying black, glabrous to velutinous pubescent beneath, the hairs dense but short; petioles stout, to 1 cm long; stipules free, ovate, to 1.5 cm long, acute, coriaceous to thickly scarious, glabrous to puberulent toward the scarious margins, the margins thickened, pubescent, drawn into a subulate process. Inflo-rescences terminal, cymose, 4-10 cm long or much longer; peduncle short, the bracts ovate, 3-4 mm long, acuminate, the branches to 9, few or many flowered. Flowers to 3.5 cm long, bisexual on pedicels to 1.2 cm long; hypanthium narrowly oblong; calycine cup turgid, ca. 0.6 cm long, stiffly carnose, the margin truncate, the teeth as mere points, glabrous except often with a few hairs marginally; corolla cream white, the tube short cylindrical, ca. 1.5 cm long, 0.8-1.0 cm wide, densely velutinous hairy or villose outside and in, the hairs to 2 mm long, the lobes 5-6, oblong, 1.5-2.5(-3.0) cm long, longer than the tube, widely deltoid at the apex, reflexed at anthesis; anthers 5, subsessile, narrow oblong, 8.0-9.5 mm long, the connective produced for ca. 1.5 mm at the apex, ultimately acute or obtuse, the filaments attached near the mouth; stigmatic lobes 2, narrowly lan-ceolate, erect, ca. 7 mm long, partially exserted. Fruits oblong or subrotund, to 9 cm in diam., glabrous, silvery gray outside, the persistent calyx short, giving a craterlike effect, ca. 1 cm in diam.

A tropical plant. It grows in the hot tropical lowlands. It is native to tropical America. It grows in rainfall of 1,500-4,500 mm per year. The temperatures are 22-30°C. It is common in swamp marshes. In Central America it grows from sea level to 1,000 m altitude. In Argentina it grows below 500 m above sea level.

Fruit are eaten fresh. They need to be over-ripe. They are acid so are more often used for preserves. They can be made into marmalade or drinks. The fruit are fermented to make an alcoholic drink. Caution: Alcohol is a cause of cancer.

Plants are grown from seed. They can also be grown from large cuttings or by grafting. For seed the ripe fruit are harvested and the seeds removed and washed under running water. They are dried in the shade. Seeds only remain viable for 4 months. Seeds germinate in 25-45 days. Seedlings can be transplanted into the field after 7-9 months.