Barbados cherry

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Barbados cherry

plant and fruit

Also known as: Malpighia emarginata, West Indian cherry, acerola

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Article History

Also called:: West Indian cherry or acerola

Related Topics:: evergreen; fruit

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Barbados cherry, (Malpighia emarginata), tropical and subtropical shrub or small tree (family Malpighiaceae), cultivated as an ornamental plant and for its tart edible fruits. The fruits are very rich in vitamin C and are used in preserves and commercial vitamin production. The plant is native to the West Indies and southern Texas southward to northern South America.

The Barbados cherry plant is an evergreen and grows about 3.6 metres (12 feet) tall. The flowers, which appear throughout the summer, are pink or rosy, 2 cm (nearly one inch) in diameter, and grow from the leaf axils in clusters of three to five. The red fruit is a drupe the size of a cherry.

Another species commonly called Barbados cherry is the wild Malpighia glabra, which has been the subject of some taxonomic confusion with the cultivated species.

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The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Melissa Petruzzello.