Casasia clusiifolia Seven- Year Apple1
Introduction
This evergreen shrub or small tree is one of Florida's most exceptional native, salt-tolerant plants (Fig. 1). It grows up to the first dune near the ocean. The beautiful, glossy, leathery foliage is clustered near the branch tips. The Seven Year Apple has axillary clusters of white, pink-tipped flowers that emerge in the spring and early summer. These flowers are approximately 1-inch long and have a very sweet, heavy fragrance. Seven-Year Apple has large lemon-shaped fruits that may persist for more than a year. The fruits are green when they first appear and gradually turn yellow and ripen in about one year. Yellow fruits then turn black and become wrinkled. The dark brown pulp inside the black fruits is edible but is filled with many seeds. This pulp is very appealing to the Mockingbirds, and they hollow out the ripe fruits and leave the empty skins hanging on the plant.
General Information
Figure 1.
Seven-Year Apple.
Scientific name: Casasia clusiifolia
Pronunciation: kuh-SAW-see-uh kloo-see-if-FOLE-ee-uh
Common name(s): Seven-Year Apple
Family: Rubaceae
Plant type: shrub
USDA hardiness zones: 10B through 11 (Fig. 2)
Planting month for zone 10 and 11: year round
Origin: native to Florida
Uses: hedge; screen; border; recommended for buffer strips around parking lots or for median strip plantings in the highway; near a deck or patio;
Figure 2.
Shaded area represents potential planting range.
specimen; small parking lot islands (< 100 square feet in size); medium-sized parking lot islands (100-200 square feet in size); large parking lot islands (> 200 square feet in size)
Availability: somewhat available, may have to go out of the region to find the plant
Description
Height: 8 to 20 feet
Spread: 8 to 15 feet
Plant habit: round
Plant density: dense
Growth rate: slow
Texture: coarse
Foliage
Leaf arrangement: alternate
Leaf type: simple
Leaf margin: revolute
Leaf shape: obovate
Leaf venation: pinnate
Leaf type and persistence: evergreen
Leaf blade length: 4 to 8 inches
Leaf color: green
Fall color: no fall color change
Fall characteristic: not showy
Flower
Flower color: white
Flower characteristic: showy; spring flowering; summer
flowering; flowers periodically throughout the year
Fruit
Fruit shape: oval
Fruit length: 1 to 3 inches
Fruit cover: fleshy
Fruit color: black
Fruit characteristic: suited for human consumption; attracts birds
Trunk and Branches
Trunk/bark/branches: typically multi-trunked or clumping stems; not particularly showy
Current year stem/twig color: green
Current year stem/twig thickness: thick
Culture
Light requirement: plant grows in part shade/part sun
Soil tolerances: acidic; alkaline; sand; loam; clay
Drought tolerance: high
Soil salt tolerances: unknown
Plant spacing: 36 to 60 inches
Other
Roots: usually not a problem
Winter interest: no special winter interest
Outstanding plant: plant has outstanding ornamental features and could be planted more
Invasive potential: not known to be invasive
Pest resistance: no serious pests are normally seen on the plant
Use and Management
The Seven-Year Apple may be used in the same way that Photinia or Pittosporum is used in the landscape. Plant them on 4 to 5 foot centers to create a hedge or screen of mediumtextured soft foliage. Locate them to soften the corner of a commercial building. They are too big for many residential landscapes unless they are regularly pruned. Form a small, multi-trunk tree by removing lower branches as the plant grows. Plant them as a wind break on the ocean front. A full sun or partial shade location in the landscape will be ideal for the Seven-Year Apple. It requires well-drained soils and is very drought and salt tolerant.
Pests and Diseases
No pests or diseases are of major concern.
Footnotes
This document is FPS110, one of a series of the Environmental Horticulture Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Original publication date October 1, 1999. Reviewed May 1, 2007. Visit the EDIS Web Site at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu.
Edward F. Gilman, professor, Environmental Horticulture Department, Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, 32611.
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contact your county Cooperative Extension service.
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service,
University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A. & M. University Cooperative
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