IFAS Palm Beach County Cooperative Extension Service
The bignay, Antidesma bunius, is a handsome medium-size
evergreen tree native to Malaya and Asia. It has dark green glossy alternate
leaves that are often four to six inches in length and two to three inches
wide. Trees grow well over a variety of soil types, and here in Florida
they produce most of their fruit during the fall season.
Male and female flowers are borne on separate trees, but most female
trees usually bear sufficient quantities of fruit without having a male tree.
Seeds from these fruit, though, are generally not viable and will not germinate
if planted.
Fruits on bignay are quite impressive, hanging in large grape-like
cluster with up to twenty or thirty fruit per cluster in many cases. Individual
fruit size, though, is only about half an inch and at maturity fruits are
a dark purplish-black with a large seed surrounded by a thin layer of edible
pulp. Bignay is a fruit that is excellent for jellies, jams, and especially
wine. Many people do not eat large quantities of them out of hand, one
reason being that the fruits in the cluster ripen very unevenly, requiring
picking frequently mature fruits to get an appreciable quantity.
The main fruiting season starts in late August and runs through
the end of October. Trees grow to about forty feet in height and are generally
propagated by air layers or cuttings under mist. Most bignay, once well-established,
are quite cold-resistant and mature trees can take down into the upper
twenties (°F) without significant damage.
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