What season is star fruit from? A detailed guide to its ripening and market season

The flowering period of star fruit is from April to July, and the fruiting period is from July to December, making it a fruit of summer, autumn and winter. The star fruit of the best seasonal quality generally flowers in July, and by around the Mid-Autumn Festival in autumn, the fruit tends to ripen.

Star fruit, also known as yangtao, is a plant of the genus Averrhoa in the wood sorrel family (Oxalidaceae). It is a tree, up to 12 m tall, with very many branches; the bark is dark gray, and the inner bark is pale yellow. The odd-pinnate compound leaves are alternate, entire, ovate or elliptical. The flowers are small, slightly fragrant, and several to many are borne in cymes or panicles, emerging from the leaf axils or growing on the branches and trunk; the flowering branches and buds are dark red. The berry is fleshy and drooping. The seeds are blackish brown. The flowering period is April to December, and the fruiting period is July to December.

It is native to Malaysia and Indonesia and is widely cultivated throughout the tropics. It is cultivated in Guangdong, Guangxi, Fujian, Taiwan, China and Yunnan in China. It grows by roadsides, in sparse forests or in gardens.

The wood is generally used for small farm tools; the fruit promotes salivation and quenches thirst, and is also used as medicine. The roots, bark and leaves relieve pain and stop bleeding. The fruit is peculiar and beautifully colored, and in gardens it is often planted along roadsides, by walls or beside buildings for ornamental viewing; it can also be grown as a large potted plant to green balconies and rooftops.