Black Star

'Black Star' is one of two superior grafted purple-fruited Surinam cherries that Florida nurserymen introduced to the trade, named alongside 'Zill Dark' in the Florida State Horticultural Society review of the crop's commercialization. It is prized for producing the darkest fruit of any selection in circulation — genuinely black at full ripeness rather than the maroon-black of most "black" seedlings — and for carrying the low-resin, high-sugar flavour that makes dark pitangas worth growing at all. Grafted trees are produced in Homestead, Florida, and seed has been offered periodically by specialist seed houses, though the same paper notes that grafting difficulties have kept all of the purple cultivars from ever being widely distributed. Confusingly, some sellers treat 'Black Star' and 'Lolita' as the same clone under two names, while seed vendors have listed them separately with 'Black Star' described as the darker of the two; buyers should judge by the fruiting plant rather than the label. It is a strong choice for a container or a fruiting hedge where an ornamental evergreen with edible black fruit is wanted.