Gardening with Tropical Fruit

The Lovi-lovi

By Gene Joyner, Extension Agent
Palm Beach County Cooperative Extension Service

The lovi-lovi (Flacourtia inermis) is an interesting fruit that is seen occasionally in Florida and this is a native of tropical Africa and Asia. It forms an open growing tree up to 25 feet and has shiny green leaves on the upper surface with a lighter green leaf beneath. Trees grow over a wide variety of soil types and are bisexual so that a single tree should produce fruit.

Flowers are produced in the spring months and large clusters of small flowers soon turn into dark red fruit about an inch in diameter. The fruits have many small seeds. Although most varieties of astringent there are some that are sweet and they can be used for fresh eating or make excellent jams and preserves.

Lovi-lovi can be used even as a clipped hedge if sufficient plants are available. Easily propagated by seed, seedlings are known to be variable in fruit characteristics. If you have improved strains they should be propagated by air layering or by rooting cuttings. They can also be budded or grafted on other seedlings.

Trees are relatively cold hardy and are not injured till temperatures get down below 32 degrees and mature trees can take temperatures down in to the upper 20's. Salt tolerance is also excellent and it can be planted fairly close to intracoastal or ocean areas and it would grow well.

Trees can develop micro-nutrient problems in highly alkaline soils, but other than that they grow well over a wide range of conditions. Once established trees are quite drought hardy and need little in the way of supplemental irrigation except during periods of drought. When small lovi-lovi makes a great container specimen and it will produce dozens of fruit on a 2 or 3 foot high container plant.