Edible
Ambarella
Spondias dulcis
Also known as June plum, Golden apple, Kedondong, Pomme cythere
How to grow ambarella, Spondias dulcis. The crisp green fruit eaten with salt and chilli, the spiny stone at its centre, and why it is called June plum in one country and golden apple in another.
At a glance
- Difficulty
- Moderate
- Water
- Weekly in growth, nearly dry when leafless
- Light
- Full sun
- Temperature
- Minimum 8 deg C. Damaged by frost
- Humidity
- Moderate
- Hardiness
- USDA 10-12, RHS H1b, hardy to 10 C
- Type
- Tender deciduous tree
- Height
- 10-25 m in the open, 1.5-2 m in a pot
- Native to
- Melanesia, Polynesia
- Best month
- June, July and September in the Northern Hemisphere, December, January and March in the Southern Hemisphere
Wet tropical Melanesia and Polynesia. It drops its leaves in the dry season and fruits after, so a tree kept evenly watered year round flowers poorly. No frost at any stage.
Hardiness zones describe winter cold alone. Summer heat, humidity, rainfall and the length of the growing season decide as much, so treat the range as the outer limit rather than as a recommendation.
Every month named in this guide is for the temperate Northern Hemisphere. If you garden in the Southern Hemisphere, shift each one by six months, so June becomes December. Closer to the equator the wet and dry seasons matter more than the calendar, and the shift stops being a useful guide.
Not known to be toxic
- Safe to eat
- The fruit green or ripe, and the young leaves as a vegetable
- Do not eat
- The fibrous spiny stone, which is not eaten
Ambarella is not toxic and nothing in the plant is listed as harmful to people or to cats and dogs. The fruit is eaten green and crisp or ripe and soft, and the young leaves are eaten as a vegetable in Indonesia and Polynesia. The stone at the centre carries stiff fibrous spines that project into the flesh, and while they are not dangerous they make eating round the core awkward and are the reason the fruit is usually cut off the stone rather than eaten off it. The species is in the Anacardiaceae, the family of mango and cashew, so people strongly sensitive to poison ivy may react to the sap when pruning; the reaction is far milder than mango's and rarely reported.
Sources: ASPCA toxic and non-toxic plants , RHS potentially harmful garden plants
About
Ambarella is eaten before it is ripe by most of the people who eat it. Green and crisp it is sharp, firm and juicy, sliced and dipped in salt and chilli across Indonesia and the Caribbean, and that is the form the fruit is bought in.
Left to ripen, it softens, turns golden and smells of pineapple, and it goes into juice and preserves.
Names are a mess. Jamaica calls it June plum, Trinidad calls it pomme cythere, Indonesia calls it kedondong, and English books call it golden apple, which is also a name for three other fruits. The Latin sorts it out.
Appearance and character
An upright deciduous tree with a straight trunk and rather sparse branching, 10 to 25 m in the open.
The trunk is smooth and grey, and young stems are thick, green and soft, which is what makes the tree easy to break in wind.
Leaves are pinnate, 20 to 60 cm, with 9 to 25 glossy leaflets, and they turn a clear bright yellow before falling.
The tree is leafless for part of the dry season in its native range and in a cool winter.
Flowers are small, white to cream, in large loose terminal panicles.
Fruit hangs in clusters of a few to a dozen, oval, 6 to 9 cm, ripening from green to golden yellow.
Flesh is pale yellow, crisp and acid when green, softening and turning sweet and pineapple-scented when fully ripe.
The stone at the centre is the identifying feature. Woody, fibrous, and covered in stiff spines that project outwards into the flesh.
Where it is from
Ambarella is native to Melanesia and Polynesia, from New Guinea east through the Solomon Islands and into the Society Islands.
It was one of the plants Pacific voyagers carried with them, and it was established across the region long before European contact.
Captain Bligh took it to Jamaica in 1793 on the same voyage that finally delivered breadfruit, and it took hold in the Caribbean thoroughly enough that Jamaicans regard it as local.
Indonesia and Malaysia grow it widely as kedondong, and it is a staple of rojak and other fruit salads served with a sweet spiced sauce.
Sri Lanka, India, Thailand and the Philippines all have it, and Fiji and Samoa still grow the Pacific forms.
Temperate markets see it in Caribbean and South East Asian groceries, usually green and firm.
How it grows
Sow seed from a ripe fruit, or take a large hardwood cutting, which roots readily and is the usual method in the Caribbean.
Sow the whole spiny stone at 22 to 28 deg C. Germination is slow and uneven, taking four to twelve weeks, and several seedlings often come from one stone.
Grow in free-draining compost. This species tolerates poor sandy ground.
Give full sun and a minimum of 8 deg C.
Water weekly in growth and keep it nearly dry while it is leafless.
Feed monthly from April to September.
Prune while dormant to control size, and prune in a way that keeps the tree compact, since the green stems are soft and break in wind.
Expect fruit in three to four years from a cutting and four to six from seed, which is quick for a fruit tree.
A dwarf cultivar exists and is worth seeking out, since it fruits at well under two metres.
Through the seasons
Winter is dormancy. The tree drops its leaves. Hold above 8 deg C, keep the compost nearly dry, and feed nothing.
Late winter is the pruning window while the plant is bare.
Spring brings new leaves and then the flower panicles.
Early summer is fruit set.
Midsummer is fruit swell.
Late summer to autumn is harvest, and the fruit is picked green for eating crisp or left to turn golden.
Late autumn is leaf fall and the start of dormancy.
Care difficulty
Moderate, and one of the easier fruits in this collection.
Dormancy helps. The tree is deciduous, so a cool dry winter is easier to provide than the constant heat most of these plants demand.
Minimum 8 deg C is the floor.
Soil is undemanding, including poor and sandy ground.
Propagation from large cuttings is easy and quick, and a cutting fruits in three or four years.
Size is the obstacle in the open, though a dwarf cultivar exists and solves it.
The soft green stems break in wind and under their own fruit load, so support and shelter matter.
Watering
Water weekly in growth, giving a thorough soak and letting the surface dry.
Keep the compost nearly dry through winter dormancy, since a wet leafless plant rots.
Water steadily during fruit swell.
Drain fully.
Tap water is fine.
Keep humidity moderate.
Resume watering as the new leaves appear in spring.
Warning signs, diseases and pests
Leaf fall in autumn is normal. The tree is deciduous.
Wilting in damp compost during dormancy is root rot, which is the commonest way to lose one.
Broken stems after wind or a heavy crop are the soft green wood being what it is. Support and shelter the plant.
Brown limpets on the stems are scale.
White fluff in the leaf axils is mealybug.
Fine webbing on the leaves is spider mite.
Blackened shoot tips after a cold night are frost damage.
Fruit with holes and brown patches is fruit fly, a tropical field problem.
Growing environment
A frost-free greenhouse or conservatory, standing outdoors in a warm summer.
Winter at 8 to 14 deg C, dry, with the plant leafless.
Summer at 22 to 30 deg C.
Full sun.
Moderate humidity.
Free-draining compost of moderate fertility.
pH from 5.5 to 7.5.
Shelter from wind, and a stake, because the green stems snap.
Feeding
Feed monthly from April to September with a balanced liquid feed.
Switch to high potash as fruit swells.
Stop feeding at the end of September so the wood hardens before dormancy.
Give nothing through winter.
Repot or top-dress in late winter while the plant is bare.
Avoid heavy nitrogen, which produces soft growth on a plant already prone to breaking.
Add magnesium if older leaves yellow between the veins.
Troubleshooting
Should I eat it green or ripe? Both work and most people eat it green. Green it is crisp, firm and sharp, sliced with salt and chilli. Ripe it is soft, golden and smells of pineapple, and goes into juice and preserves.
Why does the stone have spines? The woody core carries stiff fibres that project into the flesh. They are harmless and awkward, and the fruit is usually cut off the stone rather than eaten round it.
What is it called? June plum in Jamaica, pomme cythere in Trinidad, kedondong in Indonesia, golden apple in English books. All are Spondias dulcis.
How do I propagate it? A large hardwood cutting roots readily and is the standard method in the Caribbean. It fruits in three or four years.
My tree lost all its leaves. Normal. Ambarella is deciduous and goes bare for part of the year.
A branch snapped. The green stems are thick and soft and break under wind or a heavy fruit load. Stake and shelter it.
Is there a smaller version? Yes. A dwarf cultivar exists and fruits at well under two metres, which makes it far better suited to a heated greenhouse.
Is it related to mango? Yes, both are in the Anacardiaceae. The sap can irritate people strongly sensitive to poison ivy, though far less than mango’s does.