WHITMAN: OLOSAPO, SUNSAPOTE, LONGAN 323

Some form of cold protection is essential for Another important factor is the constant de any tropical fruit orchard in Florida. Before mand from an affluent public for new and exotic establishing a planting, the grower should make products. There is an ever-increasing tendency for sure that hehas chosen the warmest location urban people to spend part oftheir leisure time in available. such rural pleasures as shopping at roadside markets and harvesting produce in pick-it-yourself Future Possibilities operations. Tropical fruits can be utilized well in Predicting the future of minor crops involves such enterprises. much guess work. Often the very existence of a The demand for tropical fruits in cities of particular fruit as a commercial crop depends Florida has grown in recent years because of a upon the work of only a few dedicated persons. great increase in people of Latin American origin, However, several factors favor the continued pro particularly Cubans. These people are well ac duction of these tropical fruit crops in Florida. quainted with tropical fruits and need no urging Foremost is the fact that it is possible to grow to buy them. specialty fruit crops profitably, if the producer is It may be concluded that, although land prices willing to work hard and to market the products and production costs are increasing, the tradition intelligently. In addition, some people derive great of tropical fruit production in Florida is destined personal satisfaction from growing unusual fruits. to continue for a long time.

THE OLOSAPO, THE SUNSAPOTE AND THE FIJIAN LONGAN

Wm. F. Whitman described was received in 1962, a small seedling Rare Fruit Council International from John Stermer of Kona, Hawaii; grown from 189 Bal Bay Drive seed originating in Costa Rica. Bal Harbour The tree, as observed in Bal Harbour, has mod erately bushy growth with branches close to the The olosapo ( polyandra), the sunsa- ground. The , 5 inches long by 2V2 inches pote (Licania platypus) and the Fijian longan wide, are shiny dark green on their upper surfaces (Pometia pinnata) all have one thing in common, and a dull whitish-tomentose green underneath. in that they have recently fruited in South Florida. Presently it is 12 feet high with a 15 foot spread, It is believed to be the first instance of these the grayish trunk having a diameter of 5 inches species bearing in the state. This paper presents at the ground level. The first bloom and fruit an evaluation of these fruits and their perfoiinance in Bal Harbour,a community located near the north end of Miami Beach between Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The growing medium is an acid pH. 6.4 trucked in black hammock sand soil. Climatically the area is usually frost free but subjected to gusty winter winds due to the prox imity of the ocean, three blocks to the east, and the bay, one block to the west of the growing site. Briefly covered are other growing locations. The olosapo, a member of the Rosaceae or rose family, is reported by Standley and Steyermark (6) as being indigenous to "Southern Mexico, British Honduras to Costa Rica". In various publi cations it is spoken of as a "shrub or tree", "rather low tree" and "medium sized tree". The Olosapo (Couepia polyandra), a "pickle-shaped" fruit. Photo by Wm. F. Whitman 324 FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY,1971

appearedin 1968when this six year old Costa a statelyappearance. Thewriter received fivesmall

Ricanintroduction was 9 feethigh. The small Licaniaplatypus in1957 from the Minister whiteflowers are born in clusters, spaced around ofAgriculture, El Salvador. Oneof these, planted theoutside perimeter ofthe tree. These are soon out,made good growth until it was reduced to a followedby a profusionoforange-yellow 3^ inch threefoot stump after severe wind damage in longby 1% inchdiameter fruit, looking very 1964.Responsible forthis destruction was hurri similarto a pickle,especially when stillgreen cane"Cleo", late August storm with gusts up to andunripe. They appear singly or in clusters up 125m.p.h. and a threehour duration as itseye tofour or more and total production ofone crop passedover coastal areas in Dade County, Florida. canrun well over a hundred.Unless the fruit is Fortunatelyrecovery of the sunsopotewas fullyripe and slightly soft, itcan be astringent.rapid and in November of 1969 it bloomed and set

Itis somewhat fibrous, resembling inflavor the itsfirst fruit which were to mature the following canistel(). Themoderately summer. The tree is now 23 feethigh with a 25 largeseed germinates readily and numerous volun footspread supported by a trunkmeasuring 11 teeryoung plants have sprung up underneaththe inchdiameter at groundlevel. It hasa dense parenttree. The olosapobears several crops per habitof growth with 9 inchlong by 3 inchwide year,apparently on no setschedule. Itis thought deep green leaves. These are spaced alternately to be droughtresistant, likes full sun, and no on thestiff, straight, brown branches; branches diseaseorinsect problems have been encountered. which are profusely covered with white dot minute

"Couepiapolyandra grew well at Fairchildlenticels andset at a 45degree angle to the main

TropicalGarden'', according toPopenoe (5), "but trunk.The pendant, reddish, young leaves from a unfortunatelywaskilled by the tidal water of a newflush of growth stand out in striking contrast hurricane.Itdid not tolerate thesalt". In 1959 tothe dark, shiny deep green of the mature foliage. theSub-Tropical Experiment Station, Homestead The bloom panicels, first appearing inNovember, setan olosapoout in the field. Five years later, reach a footor morein length and are covered afterhaving failed togrow well it was removed, with numerous small individual white flowers. In accordingtoCampbell (2). itiallyeachflower sets a fruit but with the passing

Anothermember of the Rosaceae orrose family oftime these gradually thin themselves out.Nine isthe sunsapote ofCentral America. Pittier (4) monthslater at maturity only one to four of the describesthisas "A largetree, reaching height a now two pound fruit usually remain on each bloom of 30 to 50 meters(Hemsley) when fullyde panicle.Theweight of the crop frequently bends veloped".He goes on to say that in the open it has thelower branches to where their ends, as well

asthe fruit, rest on theground.

Thefirst fruiting in1970 consisted ofabout

a dozensunsapote; the followingyearnearly ten

timesthis amount were matured. The large fruit,

6 incheslong, 4 inchesdiameter, isa brown color,

atfirst set upon greena background which changes

toa yellowishbrown upon ripening. Sampled fruit

was normallygathered after dropping to the

ground.If left for more than a daybeneath the

treeit often spoiled and when picked directly from

thebranches was usuallyfound to be immature.

Thesunsapote contain a large seed with numerous

fiberswhich penetrate into the sweet,orange-

yellowflesh. The bearingseason commences in

summerextending into the fall. No insectsor

diseasehave been observed toattack the fruit or

tree.

Stermer(7) reports from Kona, Hawaii (where

theLicania platypus isa recentintroduction)

"Thisis the wild, powerful grower, even when

totallyabandoned". Popenoe (5) states "Licania

Sunsapote(Licania platypus) bears large fruit six inches long. platypusstarted growing well but when the trunks Photo byWm. F. Whitman WHITMAN: OLOSAPO, SUNSAPOTE, LONGAN 325

reached about two inches in diameter the trees covered with small cream-white flowers. The newly- started dying back so that we (Fairchild Tropical set fruit is a vivid Chinest red which, upon reach Garden) were unable to grow them successfully". ing pea size, gradually disappears and fades into Knight (3) at the U.S. Plant Introduction Station, green. The smooth, nearly round to oblong-round, Miami reports "One surviving plant has flowered green fruit reaches a diameter of 1% inches or off and on (after rainy weather) since 1963, but more at maturity. Born in clusters like the lychee, no fruit set occurred". A related but smaller fruit, they weigh about eleven to the pound with a the 'Oiti' (Licania tomentosa) has been bearing flavor resembling a bland tasting longan (Eiiphoria for a number of years at the Sub-Tropical Experi long ana). The semi-transparent, juicy, white flesh ment Station. contains a single marble-size seed, which according One of the giants of the Sapindaceae is the to Barrett (1) "May be eaten boiled or roasted''. Fijian longan, (Pometia pinnata) y a native of the The tree flowers in September and bears in Asiatic tropics. According to Barrett (1) "The December; on one occasion having put on a sec tree may stand over 100 feet high". The Fijian ond crop during the summer. No injurious insects longan described was received in 1959, from or diseases have been observed to attack the tree Stermer in Hawaii. Since that time it has aver or its fruit. aged nearly two feet in height growth per year In 1960 the Sub-Tropical Experiment Station and presently stands at 20 feet with a 23 foot received seed of Pometia pinnata from Hawaii. In spread supported by a trunk measuring 9 inches 1962 two seedlings that were grown from this in diameter at ground level. It makes an open type shipment were planted out and according to Camp of growth with yard long pinnate leaves, the bell (2) one of these survived and "Is now about lets being 12 inches long by 3 inches wide and 7 feet tall, has been injured by frost several times, varying in number from 10 to 18 per leaf. New flowered first time summer of 1971 and is fruiting flushes of growth, a deep red wine color, can give fall of 1971". The Bal Harbour Fijian longan sets this member of the Sapindaceae a striking appear a light crop at times because some of the bloom

ance. panicles shed all or most of their fruit in the The first Fijian longan crop appeared in the immature stage. This is thought to be a pollination fall of 1969 and the tree would possibly have problem for the same fruit growing in Hawaii was fruited earlier except for hurricane damage. The observed to set good crops when two or more trees bloom is similar to that of the related lychee (Lit- grew adjacent to each other. In literature the chi chinensis) with panicles up to 18 inches Pometio pinnata is also referred to as "Kawa", "Dawa" and "Siday". Evaluation — The writer would consider the olosapo of more value as an ornamental than for the quality of its fruit. The drooping branches and habit of growth are attractive, especially since the dark green leaves have a contrasting whitish underside. In the author's opinion the sunsapote makes a handsome and stately tree, while its fruit is of poor quality. Of the three trees described the writer prefers the fruit of the Fijian longan which is thought to be pleasant but not outstanding. It ripens in December when there is a comparative scarcity of other available tropical fruit.

REFERENCES

1. Barrett, O. W. 1928. The Tropical Crops. The Mac- millan Company. N.Y. p. 240. 2. Campbell, C. W. Professor (Horticulturist). 1971. Personal communication. 3. Knight, R. J., Jr. Research Horticulturist. 1971. Personal communication. Pittier, H. 1912. Contrib. U.S. National Herbarium 13(1?.) :443-445. 5. Popenoe, J. Director Fairchild Tropical Garden. 1971. Personal Communication. 6. Stanley, P. C. and Steymark, J. A. 1946. Fieldiana: Bloom and fruit of the Fijian longan (Pometia pinnata). Botany. Chicago Natural History Museum. 24(4) :443.. Photo by Wm. F. Whitman 7. Stermer, J. M. 1961. Unpublished correspondence.