Indigenous to Surinam and French Guiana, the Surinam cherry has become naturalized throughout the Caribbean. It’s also a very popular hedging plant in southern Florida. A slender shrub or tree, it grows up to 25 feet tall and produces spreading branches with aromatic foliage. The flowers are white and long-stalked, and look like powder puffs. The thin-skinned, ¾- to 1½-inch-wide fruit has multiple ribs and matures from green to bright red and finally to a dark plum color. Its flesh is tender, very juicy, and tartly sweet to taste. It’s also high in vitamin A. There may be one fairly large seed or three smaller ones. The seeds are extremely resinous and should not be eaten. The fruit ripens quickly, often three weeks after flowering. It is generally eaten out of hand or chilled and sprinkled with sugar.

The Surinam cherry prefers a sunny location but is not particularly fussy about potting soil. Let the soil dry out between waterings. Fertilize it regularly during active growth, flowering, and fruiting—usually in late summer.

source : www.bbg.org