Seven Year Apple
Fragrant white flowers, glossy leaves, hurricane tough, and genuinely ugly fruit
Casasia clusiifolia
Photo: Longleaf Design
Why it works here
Thick, glossy, paddle shaped leaves that look almost artificial, small star shaped white flowers with a hint of orange in the throat that are genuinely fragrant, and blooms year round with a spring and summer peak. It is the larval host for the tantalus sphinx moth and a nectar plant for the mangrove skipper, and northern mockingbirds specifically go after the fruit. On wind it is exceptional: the folks at Sanibel watched these come through Hurricane Ian and its surge and be lovely on the other side. Two honest things. One, we are 50 to 70 miles north of where it grows wild, so a hard freeze is a real risk here and I would not use it as the only structure in a screen. Two, the fruit. It is the size and shape of a lemon and it ripens over ten to twelve months, going green, then yellow, then orange, then finally black and wrinkled. IRC says it flatly: the fruits can be downright ugly. Hanging on a glossy handsome shrub, they read as diseased to most people.
Care
Well drained soil, full sun, water through establishment and during long dry stretches. It is slow to moderate, so buy close to the size you want. Prune only to shape. Do not fertilize or hard prune in late fall so it is not pushing tender growth into winter, and if a freeze burns it, leave the damaged wood on until spring as insulation before cutting back to live tissue.
Common problems
Fruit drop. Lemon sized fruit landing on a patio, a driveway, or a walkway is the practical maintenance issue. The design answer is to site it away from hardscape or put a groundcover bed under it to catch the drop.
The look of the ripe fruit. Nothing to fix, just something to know before you plant it by the front door.
It is dioecious, meaning individual plants are male or female, and you need both to get fruit. Nursery stock is rarely labeled by sex, so I never promise fruit on this one.
Cold damage in an unusual freeze. Site it warm.
No serious pests or diseases, which matches UF.
Common questions
Does the fruit really take seven years?
No. It takes about ten months. The name comes from how long suffering the thing looks by the time it finally ripens, hanging there black and shriveled like it has been up there for seven years.
Can you eat it?
The pulp, when it is fully black ripe, and not the seeds, which will make you sick. The method is to poke a hole in the rind and suck out the jelly. And here is the honest report: some people taste prunes, some taste licorice, and plenty of people think it is awful. This is a curiosity, not a crop. Plant it for the flowers, the leaves, and the mockingbirds.
Why doesn't mine fruit?
You probably have one plant, or two of the same sex. Male and female are separate plants on this species and almost nobody is told that at the register.
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