Ambarella (vī)
Spondias dulcis
A Polynesian canoe fruit: crisp and sour-sweet when green, golden and pineapple-scented when ripe.
Hardiness: zones 10 to 12
Light: full sun
Size: about 40 ft tall, 25 ft wide
Harvest: October to February
From: Melanesia and Polynesia
Here: Too tender to overwinter outdoors on the Lake Erie shore (zone 6b to 7a): grow it in a pot and bring it in, or treat it as an annual.
Good for: food, wildlife.
Native to: Hawaiʻi & Pacific Islands, South & Southeast Asian tropics, New Guinea & Melanesia. Hardy in zones 10 to 12.
The story
Ambarella is one of the canoe plants that Pacific voyagers carried from Melanesia to Tahiti and beyond, where it is vī. It later reached the Caribbean, where it is June plum or golden apple.
Planting
Full sun, a frost-free climate and soil that drains. Dwarf kinds fruit in pots.
Growing
Fast and brittle; shelter it from strong wind. It drops its leaves in the dry season.
Harvest and use
Eat green fruit crisp with salt and chilli, or let it turn gold and soften. It makes good juice, chutney and pickles.
What to watch for
The spiny, fibrous stone. Fruit flies.
See if Ambarella (vī) fits your yard
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More tropical and subtropical food plants
- Long pepper (pippali)
- Mamey apple
- Stinking toe (West Indian locust)
- Chiuri (Indian butter tree)
- Timla (Roxburgh fig)
- Kakadu plum (gubinge)
General guidance, not professional advice. Conditions vary by yard and year; for local specifics ask your county extension office. Never eat a wild plant you cannot identify with certainty. Traditional uses are shared as history, not medical advice. © 2026 Sean Priest · Irie Orchard. Terms & credits · Privacy · Home