Rank Species | Higher classification Dovyalis | |
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Similar Water, White sapote, Orangelo, Amazon Grape, Black Sapote | ||
Dovyalis hebecarpa, with common names Ceylon gooseberry, ketembilla, and kitambilla, is a plant in the genus Dovyalis, native to Sri Lanka and southern India. The fruit are often eaten fresh, or made into jam. Some cultivars have been selected for being thornless (making harvesting easier) and for larger fruit.
The tropical apricot, or ketcot, is a hybrid between D. hebecarpa and D. abyssinica that was developed in Florida in 1953 and is also cultivated for its fruit.
Description
It is a shrub or small tree growing to 6 m tall, with sharp, 3–6 cm long stem spines in the leaf axils. The leaves are alternately arranged, simple broad lanceolate, 5–10 cm long and 1–3 cm broad, with an entire or finely toothed margin.
The flowers are inconspicuous, solitary or clustered, with no petals. It is dioecious, with male and female flowers on separate plants, though some female plants are parthenogenetic.
The fruit is an edible dark purple globose berry 2–3 cm diameter, very juicy with an acidic flavour, and containing several small seeds. The fruit is quite acidic, so it is usually not eaten fresh.
