Professional Documents
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Ackee Growing in The Florida Home Landscape: Jonathan H. Crane, Carlos F. Balerdi, and I. Maguire
Ackee Growing in The Florida Home Landscape: Jonathan H. Crane, Carlos F. Balerdi, and I. Maguire
1. This document is HS1128, one of a series of the Horticultural Sciences Department, UF/IFAS Extension. Original publication date January 2008. Revised
December 2017 and December 2020. Visit the EDIS website at https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu for the currently supported version of this publication.
2. Jonathan H. Crane, professor and tropical fruit crops Extension specialist, UF/IFAS Tropical Research and Education Center; Carlos F. Balerdi, professor
and multi-county fruit crops Extension agent (retired), UF/IFAS Extension Miami-Dade County; and I. Maguire, media artist, UF/IFAS TREC; UF/IFAS
Extension, Gainesville, FL 32611.
The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational information and other services
only to individuals and institutions that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed, color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital status,
national origin, political opinions or affiliations. For more information on obtaining other UF/IFAS Extension publications, contact your county’s UF/IFAS Extension office.
U.S. Department of Agriculture, UF/IFAS Extension Service, University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A & M University Cooperative Extension Program, and Boards of County
Commissioners Cooperating. Nick T. Place, dean for UF/IFAS Extension.
Leaves
Evergreen with alternate pinnate (compound) leaves with 6
to 8 leaflets with short petioles; leaflets are shiny green, stiff,
6 to 8 inches (15–20 cm) long.
Inflorescence (Flowers)
The ackee flowers from pseudoterminal shoots, in other
words, flowering looks to be terminal, but in fact, new
shoot growth continues from the area next to the lateral
raceme. Bisexual and male flowers are borne together on
simple racemes, 3 to 7 inches (7.5–17.5 cm) long. The white
flowers have 5 sepals, 5 petals, and a nectary disc at the
base from which 1 to 8 stamens are attached and a superior
ovary with 3 stigmas. Trees may bloom 1 to 3 times per year
with the heaviest bloom during spring.
Varieties
There are a number of locally recognized types of ackee:
regular (moderate pulp hardness); hard (hard pulp); and
soft, sometimes call butter ackee. Other selections are called
“cheese.” These have more flesh around the seed, and the
pulp has a smooth texture. They are considered superior to
the more common forms. Figure 2. Ackee fruit split naturally.
Credits: Stephen Brown, UF/IFAS
Care of Ackee Trees in the Home Ackee Trees and Lawn Care
Ackee trees in the home landscape are susceptible to trunk
Landscape injury caused by lawn mowers and weed eaters. Maintain
A calendar outlining the month-to-month cultural prac- a grass-free area 2 to 5 or more feet away from the trunk
tices for ackee is shown in Table 1. of the tree. Never hit the tree trunk with lawn mowing
equipment and never use a weed eater near the tree trunk.
Fertilizer Mechanical damage to the trunk of the tree weakens the
In Florida, young trees should be fertilized every 1 to 2 tree, and, if severe enough, can cause dieback or kill the
months during the first year, beginning with 1/4 lb (114 g) tree.
of fertilizer and increasing to 1 lb (454 g) per tree (Table 2).
Thereafter, 3 or 4 applications per year in amounts propor- The use of lawn sprinkler systems on a timer may result
tionate to the increasing size of the tree are sufficient, but in over watering and cause ackee trees to decline. This is
do not exceed 20 lb per tree per year. because too much water too often applied causes root rot.
Pruning should be done soon after danger of frost has Food Resource. 2007. “Food information” http://food.
passed. Severe pruning is sometimes used to reduce tree oregonstate.edu/. “Ackee information” from http://
height or width of very large trees. Pruning does not injure wwwchem.uwimona.edu.jm:1104/lectures/ ackee.html
ackee trees, but may reduce fruit production for one to (Retrieved August, 2007).
several seasons. Once ackee trees become 30 ft tall (9.1 m)
or taller, extreme caution should be used in pruning the Kong, M. 2004. “Ackee.” Tropical fruit news. Miami, FL: The
trees. Climbing trees to prune them is dangerous and not Rare Fruit Council International, Inc.
recommended. Pruning of large ackee trees should be done
by a professional arborist who is licensed and insured. Martin, F.W., C.W. Campbell, and R.M. Ruberté. 1987.
“Perennial edible fruits of the tropics: an inventory.” USDA-
ARS Agric. Handbook No. 642.
Harvest, Ripening, and Storage
Ackee fruit are harvested after the fruit has split longitudi- Morton, J.F. 1987. Fruits of warm climates. Miami, FL: Julia
nally. Fruit picked prior to splitting or that has been split F. Morton Publisher.
too long (i.e., over ripe) is poisonous. The flesh of the ackee
aril is only edible and nonpoisonous after the fruit capsule Popenoe, W. 1974. Manual of tropical and subtropical fruits.
has split naturally and the flesh is firm. Fruit that has not New York: Hafner Press.
split open naturally or where the aril is soft or discolored is
extremely poisonous. Only the pulp (aril) of fully formed
ackee should be consumed.
References
Anonymous. 2000. “A bibliography on ackee (Blighia
sapida).” International Institute for Cooperation on Agri-
culture (IICA), Kingston, Jamaica. http://www. agroinfo.
org/caribbean/iicacarc/jamaica/ackeebib.pdf (Retrieved
August, 2007)