JACARATIA CORUMBENSIS

This member of the Caricaceae family was described by Carl Ernst Otto Kuntze in 1898. It is found in Bolivia, Paraguay, northern Argentina and Brazil. It does fine in well-drained soil or grit with some water and some sun. The root will get 70 centimetres in diameter, the stem reaches for two meters in height. The flowers are greenish white, and it can be reproduced both by cuttings and seeds. It is dioecious, the seeds are five centimetres, pinkish and green striped, until they ripen in yellow. The fruit is edible cooked, the root raw.

The genera name is most likely from the vermicular Brazilian name for one of the species. The species name for the occurrence at Corumba in Mato Grosso do Sul in Brazil. It seems to maintain its caudex. Photo from Imbuzeiro.blogspot.com. Male flower. From Botanical Garden in Copenhagen.