Tropical Plant "Star fruit"
Averrhoa carambola

Characteristics - The star fruit is a fruit bearer, originally from Indonesia and Malaysia. It is widely cultivated in domestic orchards and to a limited extent, commercially grown. It is an evergreen tree, 5-10 m tall. Leaves are compound imparipinnate, with a rachis, 10-16 cm long, with 4-5 pairs of chartaceous leaflets, pubescent, with a lighter color on the inferior surface, 3-7 cm long. Flowers androgynous, gathered in axillary cymes on terminal branches (of that year’s growth), form mainly in the summer. The fruits are oblong berries, deeply costate, with 5 acute ribs; they ripen in the winter, have a succulent pulp, whose flavor varies from acidic to sweet (ph 2.4-5.0 and Brix 5-13) and rich in oxalic acid.

Uses - The fruits are consumed in natura and in the form of juces, sweets and jellies.

Propagation - Propagated by seeds.