Awesome Plant Fact - Creepy Jabuticaba Tree

Did you know the jabuticaba has edible fruits that grow right on the main trunk of the tree? This makes the fruiting tree look really strange. Some would even call it creepy.

The jabuticaba, also called the Brazilian grape tree, is native to Brazil. The white flowers grow directly on the main trunk, an arrangement called cauliflory. After the flowers are pollinated, they become round, fleshy grape-like fruits, sometimes covering much of the tree's trunk. These trees have been cultivated for their delicious fruits since pre-Columbian times.

Jabuticaba trees are difficult to grow anywhere outside of their native range, and the fruits have a short shelf life, so the fruits are rarely available to people in other parts of the world. Interestingly, in Brazilian politics, the word jabuticaba is used to describe any situation that is thought to be so ridiculously and overly complex that it could only happen in Brazil (referring to the belief that jabuticaba trees only grow in Brazil).

Photo Credits:
- Jabuticaba tree - ws-tiago, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons