English: Genip tree; Marmalade box.
Spanish: Genipapo; Huito; Jagua
Costa Rica: Guaitil; Tapaculo.
Nicaragua: Tapaculo; Yigualtí.
Mexico: Shagua; Xagua.
Peru: Huito; Vito.
Argentina: ñandipá.
Bolivia: Bí.
Inca: Hawa; Wiituq.
Region: South America, Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, the Guyanas; central America, Panama to Mexico; Caribbean.
Habitat: rainforests; moist, coastal limestone woodlands; forest on the damp floodplains; moist, lowland tropics, up to 400 metres; temperatures from 24 - 31°c; tolerates rain and draught; prefers rich, humid, well-drained soil in full sun to partial shade.
Content: terpene genipine; malic acid, genipic acid, genipinic acid; geniposidinic acid, an iridoid glucoside; caffeine.
Use: edible fruit for juices, marmalade, preserves; fruit pulp, cooked with sugar for syrup, beverages, deserts; good quality wood; medicinal; ornamental, providing shade; leaf fall improving soil; live-hedge; juice from the unripe fruit turns blue-black, for indelible blue dye, tattooing, body paint; red dye, with insect-repellent properties; bark for rough clothing; wood for light construction, tool handles, furniture, cabinetwork, ship building, carving, fuel.
BotanyTree; evergreen; dense, spreading crown; 20, occasional 30 metres tall.
Stem: straight, 30 to 80 cm in diameter; bark exudes a whitish, sweetish gum when cut; heartwood is very light, yellowish-brown, slight pinkish or purplish-blue overcast; thick band of sapwood is cream-coloured to nearly white, fine texture is fine, grain straight to irregular, with growth rings marked by attractive narrow darker bands; wood is very hard, heavy, strong, flexible, not very durable, susceptible to attacks by termites and pin-hole borers; air-seasoning is slow; planing, shaping, turning, boring, and mortising are excellent; sanding and resistance to screw splitting are good; easy to work, excellent polish, good quality, attractive.
Leaves: handsome; opposite, lanceolate to oblong, ± 30 cm long, ± 15 cm broad, glossy dark green, entire margin.
Flowers: large, showy; white, yellow or red, with a five-lobed corolla, 5–6 cm diameter.
Pollination: bees.
Fruit: aromatic; leathery skin; purplish, sour pulp; succulent, ovoid; 9 to 15 cm long, 8 cm in diameter; edible, acid berry; 8 by 12 cm diameter; purplish, sour pulp.