Disterigma alaternoides

(H. B. Kunth) Nied.

Nigua, Salapa chica

Ericaceae Edible: Fruit 112 iNaturalist observations

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Description

A shrub. It can grow in the soil or attached to other plants. It grows 4 m tall. The fruit is pink to red and lets light through.

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Edible Uses

Fruit - raw. Soft, juicy, pulpy and acidulous. The fruit varies in colour, and can be translucent white or translucent pinkish, reddish-purple, or wine-red. It is up to 10mm in diameter.

Traditional Uses

The fruit are eaten raw.

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Distribution

A tropical plant. It grows in rainforest and mountain forest. It can grow between 1,600-3,900 m above sea level but is mainly between 2,400-3,400 m above sea level.

Where It Grows

Andes, Bolivia, Central America, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Peru, South America, Venezuela,

Cultivation

A plant of higher elevations in the moist tropics.

Other Information

Fruit is sold in local markets.

Synonyms

Disterigma alaternoides var. parvifolium (Benth.) A.C.Sm.Disterigma popenoi S.F.BlakeMetagonia alaternoides (Kunth) Nutt.Vacciniopsis tetramera RusbyVaccinium alaternoides KunthVaccinium alaternoides var. parvifolium Benth.

Also Known As

Fiapilla, Nigua, Perlillo, Salapa chica, Tira

References (12)

Bot. Jahrb. Syst. 11:224. 1889
Ferns, Useful Tropical Plants
Fouqué, A. 1972. Espèces fruitières d'Amérique tropicale. Institut français de recherches fruitierès outre-me (As Disterigma popenoi)
Joyal, E., 1987, Ethnobotanical Field Notes from Ecuador: Camp, Prieto, Jorgensen, and Giler. Economic Botany 41(2): 163-189
Kermath, B. M., et al, 2014, Food Plants in the Americas: A survey of the domesticated, cultivated and wild plants used for Human food in North, Central and South America and the Caribbean. On line draft. p 317

Show all 12 references

Kew Plants of the World On line
Lopez-Diago, D. & Garcia, N., 2021, Wild edible fruits of Colombia. Biota ColomBiana 22 (2) p 35
Martin, F. W., et al, 1987, Perennial Edible Fruits of the Tropics. USDA Handbook 642 p 94 (As Disterigma popenoi)
NYBG herbarium "edible"
Roa, J. A. G. & Boada, D. S. G., 2018, Fundación para el Fortalecimiento de la Fruticultura y Plantas Alimenticias no Convencionales en Colombia.
Torre, de la, L., et al, 2008, Enciclopedia de las Plantas Útiles del Ecuador. Herbario QCA. Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador. p 312
Van den Eynden, V., et al, 2003, Wild Foods from South Ecuador. Economic Botany 57(4): 576-603