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Fruit Trees

Notes:

-- indicates plants commonly available in nurseries and/or garden centers in south Florida
© indicates Florida native plants
indicates plants that can tolerate wet soils or occasional flooding.

Click on linked scientific names for photos and/or more information.

Common name Scientific name	Size (feet)	Light	Salt tolerance	Comments
Sugar apple ¨ Annona squamosa	10-20	Full sun	None	Popular, semi-deciduous fruit tree with pale green flowers. Large fruit has custard-like texture and is delicious when eaten fresh.
Atemoya ¨ Annona squamosa X A. cherimola UF Fact Sheet	25-30	Full sun	None	Hybrid of the sugar apple and the cherimoya. Fast growing tree with a short trunk. Fruit similar to sugar apple.
Jackfruit ¨ Artocarpus heterophyllus	30-70	Full sun	None	Handsome and stately tree that grows to enormous size. Adapted to humid tropical and near-tropical climates. Produces enormous, green, pebbly fruit weighing up to 50 pounds each, inside which are small pieces of pineapple-tasting flesh surrounding numerous large seeds.
American persimmon ¨©Diospyros virginiana UF Fact Sheet (251KB pdf)	50	Full sun	None	Native, slow-growing, deciduous tree with elliptical, two-tone leaves (dark green top; pale green underneath) and black, textured bark. Females produce 2” fruits that ripen to deliciously sweet. Choose named cultivars, ‘Triumph’ being very good.
Loquat, Japanese plum ¨ Eriobotrya japonica UF Fact Sheet(144KB pdf)	10-30	Full sun	Moderate	Attractive tree with showy, fragrant, winter-time flowers, followed by excellent fruit. Over-use of fertilizer increases risk of fire blight disease.
Longan ¨ Dimocarpus longana	30-40	Full sun	None	Smaller relative of lychee. Longan fruit is round or oval and larger than an olive. Thin, rough, caramel-colored shell is easily peeled. Longan pulp is translucent white and sweeter than lychee, but not as juicy. Also known as Euphoria longana.
Lychee ¨ Litchi chinensis UF Fact Sheet (50KB pdf)	30-40	Full sun	None	Dense, round-topped, slow-growing tree with smooth, gray, brittle trunk and limbs. Leathery, pinnate leaves divided into four to eight leaflets, reddish when young. Full foliage and branches to ground. Fruit covered by leathery rind, pink to strawberry-red in color and rough in texture. Edible portion or aril is white, translucent, firm and juicy. Flavor sweet, fragrant, and delicious.
Mammee apple Mammea americana UF Fact Sheet	60	Full sun	Moderate	Form resembles large magnolia, with thick, broad, elliptical leaves. Small, fragrant, white flowers. Edible fruit with apricot-like flesh and poisonous seed.
Mango ¨ Mangifera indica UF Fact Sheet (114KB pdf)	40-60	Full sun	None	Attractive, reddish inflorescences with tiny white flowers produced in late winter/early spring. Requires dry season for flowering and fruit set. Excellent tasting, large, green, yellow, or red fruit. Needs excellent drainage. Need for water increases during fruit development. Choose only known, grafted varieties.
Spanish lime ¨ Melicoccus bijugatus UF Fact Sheet	85	Full sun	Moderate	Upright, attractive tree ideally suited to oolitic limestone of Miami-Dade and the Keys. Once established, withstands extended drought. Male and female trees required for reliable fruit production.
Red mulberry © Morus rubra Red, White & Black Mulberries for Florida Yards	70	Full sun	Low	Trunk bears spreading crown with serrated, heart-shaped leaves with a rough upper surface. Copious amounts of fruit are relatively tasteless. Attractive to birds and other wildlife. Can be disfigured by leaf spotting diseases.
Avocado ¨ Persea americana UF Fact Sheet (102KB pdf)	40-60	Full sun	None	Dense, evergreen tree, shedding many leaves in early spring. Grown for fruit. Needs excellent drainage. Need for water increases during fruit development. Seed-grown trees slow to bear fruit and do not come true. Choose only known, grafted varieties.
Canistel, egg fruit ¨ Pouteria campechiana	20-40	Full sun	None	Large, open-growing, evergreen tree. Leaves or branches, if cut, have clear, milky sap. Yellow to bright orange fruit matures September - March. Flesh yellow, dry to moist consistency, depending on variety. Caution: Do not plant within 500’ of hardwood hammock in Miami-Dade County.
Tamarind ¨ Tamarindus indica UF Fact Sheet (141KB pdf)	50-90	Full sun	Moderate	Attractive feathery foliage, fissured bark, and yellow/red flowers. Pods contain edible pulp. Highly wind resistant. May need chelated iron on limestone soils. Will drop leaves during drought.