The open plant encyclopedia
Snap a photo or search by any name to see how to care for it, where it comes from, whether it's safe, and a 3D model you can turn.
The plants people record most in your country, and ones that grow there wild.
Filter by what you want to do, shape, origin, country, care and safety.
Eugenia calycina, the savannah cherry, is a small evergreen shrub from the Brazilian cerrado that bears edible dark red fruit. It needs full sun and well-drained soil, and it suits drier conditions.
Eugenia calycina, also known as savannah cherry, field cherry, Jabuti cherry, Grão de galo, cerejinha, cereja do cerrado, pitanga-vermelha, red pitanga, cherry of the Cerrado, and ca-ajaboti, is a flowering shrub in the family Myrtaceae. The specific epithet (calycina) comes from Latin calycinus, meaning having a notable calyx.
The fruit is rich in vitamin A. Several sesquiterpenes have been identified from the leaves of Eugenia calycina: bicyclogermacrene, spathulenol, beta-caryophyllene, aromadendrane‐4β,10α‐diol, and 1β‐11‐dihydroxy‐5‐eudesmene. The cytotoxic concentrations of the essential oil in the leaves for HeLa and Vero cells (266.8 ± 46.5 and 312.1 ± 42.5 μg mL−1) in 48 hours of exposure were higher than the LC50, which shows low cytotoxicity at the concentration exhibiting larvicidal activity. This indicates that the essential oil of Eugenia calycina shows high activity against the larvae of Aedes aegypti but has lower cytotoxicity against mammalian cells. Therefore, the leaves of Eugenia calycina are a promising source of natural larvicide. The seeds, fruit pulp, and leaves contain a high phenolic content, with ellagic acid being the main compound with values of 8244.53 μg/g dw (leaves), 5054.43 μg/g dw (pulp), and 715.42 μg/g dw (seed).
Eugenia calycina is native to Brazil, including but not exclusive to the states of Goiás, São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Mato Grosso do Sul, and Paraná. It grows wild in savannahs and fields up to 1,600 meters (5,200 feet) in elevation, especially in drier areas.
The fruit is often gathered from the wild and eaten raw or made into jellies and sweets. It is used by native people to treat diabetes.
Eugenia azeda · Grumichama · Eugenia paranapanemensis · Eugenia pitanga · Eugenia pyriformis · Mountain stopper · Eugenia squamiflora · Araca-boi · Eugenia subterminalis · Surinam cherry · Eugenia valsuganana · Stopper
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Eugenia calycina by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
