Calabura (Muntingia calabura)

Family: Muntingiaceae | Edibility: Edible (3/5)

Calabura or Muntingia calabura is a fast-growing small shrub or tree that is the only species in Muntingia genus and native to Southern Mexico, the Caribbean, Central America, and western South America. It has a spreading crown, short bole of about 20 cm in diameter, and drooping branches. The flowers are small and white, and the fruits are edible, sweet, and juicy. The fruits can be processed into jams.Tea can be made from the leaves.

Edible Parts & Harvest Seasons

Edible Parts: Fruit, Leaves

Harvest Seasons: Spring, Early Summer, Late Summer, Fall

Flavor & Culinary Uses

sweet juicy flesh, they are very good to eat out of hand and can also be used in jams, tarts, pies etc. — Fruit - raw or cooked.; A sweet juicy flesh, they are very good to eat out of hand and can also be used in jams, tarts, pies etc.; The fruit is intensely, almost nauseatingly, sweet.; The fruit is much loved by children.

Habitat & North American Range

Well-drained limestone banks and in thickets at elevations from sea level to 600 metres in Jamaica. A typical pioneer species, colonizing disturbed sites in tropical lowlands. (Zone 10)