Tropical Fruits in My Home Garden-Naseberry ‘chikoo’ |07 November 2008

It flourishes in deep, loose, organic soil, or on light clay, diabase rock, sand or lateritic gravel. Good drainage is essential.

It bears poorly in low, wet locations. It is highly drought-resistant, can stand salt spray and approaches the date palm in its tolerance of soil salinity.

The naseberry tree is fairly slow-growing, long-lived, upright and elegant, distinctly pyramidal when young. It grows up to 60ft (18m) tall in the open but reaches 100ft (30m) when crowded in a forest.

It is strong and wind-resistant, rich in white, gummy latex.
Naseberry’s leaves are highly ornamental, evergreen, glossy, alternate, spirally clustered at the tips of the forked twigs. They are elliptic, pointed at both ends, firm, 3 to 4½in (7.5-11.25cm) long and 1 to 1½ in (2.5-4cm) wide.

Its flowers are small and bell-like, with three brown, hairy outer sepals and three inner sepals enclosing the pale-green corolla and six stamens. They are borne on slender stalks at the leaf bases.

The fruit may be nearly round, oval or conical and varies from 2-4 in (5-10cm) in width – about the size of an apple. When immature, naseberry fruits are hard, gummy and very astringent. Though smooth-skinned, they are coated with sandy-brown scurf until fully ripe.

The flesh ranges in colour from yellowish to light or dark-brown or sometimes reddish-brown; they may be coarse and somewhat grainy or smooth, becoming soft and very juicy with a sweet flavour resembling that of a pear.

Some naseberry fruits are seedless, but normally there may be from three to 12 seeds which are easily removed as they are loosely held in a whorl of slots in the centre of the fruit. They are brown or black, with one white margin, hard, glossy, long-oval, flat, with usually a distinct curved hook on one margin and about 2cm long.

Propagation

Naseberry seeds stay viable for several years if kept dry. The best are large ones from large fruits. They germinate readily but growth is slow and the trees take five to eight years to bear.

Vegetative propagation has long been considered desirable but it has been hampered by the gummy latex.

Several methods are practised – grafting, inarching, ground-layering and air-layering.

Grafts are highly successful and air-layering has been particularly successful, the grafts growing vigorously resulting in heavy fruiting.
Shield-budding, cleft-grafting and side-grafting were moderately successful but slow.

An improved method of side-grafting may be developed using year-old seedlings with stems ¼in (6mm) thick.

The scion (young terminal shoot) is prepared six weeks to several months in advance by girdling and defoliating.

Just before grafting, the rootstock is scored just above the grafting site, leaving the latex to “bleed” for several minutes.

After the stock has been notched and the scion set in, the naseberry is bound with rubber and given a protective coating of wax or asphalt.

The scion starts growing in 30 days and the rootstock is then beheaded.
For better results, omit the pre-conditioning of the scion and the bleeding of the latex. The operator must work fast and clean his knife frequently.
 
The scions are veneer-grafted then completely covered with plastic, allowing free gas exchange while preventing dehydration.

Success is deemed most dependent on season.
Terminal shoots are completely defoliated two to three weeks before grafting on to rootstock which has been kept in partial shade for two months. However, inarching is considered superior to grafting, giving a greater percentage of success.

Homeowners often find air-layering easier and more successful than grafting, and air-layered trees often begin bearing within two years after planting.

Seedlings for grafting are best grown in full sun, kept moist and fertilised with natural fertilisers every 45 days.
 
Mature naseberry trees receive no watering, but irrigation in dry seasons will increase productivity.

Naseberry fruits mature 4-6 months after flowering. In the tropics, some cultivars bear almost continuously.

In different countries, naseberry trees bear fruit at different intervals. In Seychelles, there are two peak seasons: February-April and October-December.

Best time to pick fruits

Most people find it difficult to tell when a naseberry is ready to pick. With types that shed much of the “sand” on maturity, it is relatively easy to observe the slight yellow or peach colour of the ripe skin.

With other types, it is necessary to rub the scurf to see if it loosens readily and then scratch the fruit to make sure the skin is not green beneath the scurf.

If the skin is brown and fruit separates from the stem easily without leaking of the latex, the fruit is fully mature though still hard and must be kept at room temperature for a few days to soften.

Pests and diseases

In general, naseberry trees remain supremely healthy with little or no care. It is sometimes attacked by a bark-borer, and mealy bugs may infest tender shoots and deface naseberry fruits.

A galechid caterpillar causes naseberry flower buds and flowers to dry up and fall. In certain countries, caterpillars may completely defoliate the Jamaican naseberry tree. The ripening and overripe fruits are favourite hosts of fruit flies.

Medicinal uses

Because of the tannin content, young Jamaican naseberry fruits are boiled and the decoction taken to stop diarrhoea.

An infusion of the young Jamaican naseberry fruits and the flowers is drunk to relieve pulmonary complaints.

A decoction of old, yellowed Jamaican naseberry leaves is drunk as a remedy for coughs, colds and diarrhoea.

A “tea” of the bark is regarded as a febrifuge and is said to halt diarrhoea and dysentery.

The crushed Jamaican naseberry seeds have a diuretic action and are claimed to expel bladder and kidney stones.

A fluid extract of the crushed Jamaican naseberry seeds is employed in Yucatan as a sedative and soporific.

A paste of the Jamaican naseberry seeds is applied on stings and bites from venomous animals.

The latex is used in the tropics as a crude filling for tooth cavities.

Other uses of parts/extracts

• Eaten fresh, usually as a dessert fruit.
Latex: 
• Gummy latex substance (extracted from the bark) called chicle used to be a primary ingredient in chewing gum.

• Is employed as birdlime, as an adhesive in mending small articles and is used in dental surgery and for modelling figurines.

Wood:
• Being strong and durable, timbers are used to form lintels and supporting beams in Mayan temples.
• Used for constructing railway crossties, flooring, native carts, tool handles, shuttles and rulers.

• Valued for archer’s bows, furniture, banisters and cabinetwork but the sawdust irritates the nostrils.

Bark :
• The tannin-rich bark is used by Philippine fishermen to tint their sails and fishing lines.