PlantFiles: Star Fruit
Averrhoa carambola

Carambola grows well in a wide range of soils. It requires adequate moisture throughout the year but does not tolerate waterlogging. Regular fertilizer application is necessary for fruit production. Carambola is non-seasonal and yields 3-5 crops per year. The fruits are harvested between 40-50 days after fruit set, when they are just beginning to turn from dark green to a light yellow-green.

The fruit, like no other, has a nice thirst-quenching ability. The tree needs, above all, good drainage. And that means it needs an application of minor elements at least twice a year. Also, grafted varieties produce consistently larger fruit that ripen more evenly. My largest fruit in 2001 weighed in at 21 ounces.

The fruit is absolutely delicious and refreshing! We have bought an area to build our house, and there´s a Star Fruit tree growing there under the large branches of a big Cashew Tree. We are planning on keeping it. I have already had one from that plant, and it was good. I hope to keep having fruits for many years

This has beautiful foliage that folds in at night. When the fruit hangs on the tree it adds even more to the tree's beauty. The fruit is delicious. It bears several crops a year. It is also quite hardy for a tropical fruit tree.

my sister started our tree from a seed. everyone told her that it couldn't be done, but our tree is doing well and is only a few months old.

I have found that there are (at least) two types of carambola trees. One produces sweet fruit and the other type is quite acidic. Fortunately, ours is the sweet variety.
I have used the fruit fresh, sliced or juiced and I have used it for making star shaped preserves.

I have no plant of this variety, but grows in some farms owned by others. To my knowledge, this is the season when it grows more and there is one farmer that dehydrates the fruits and sells. It tastes similar to the raisin and has a desirable level of sourness combined with sweetness.

We moved into this house last February, a Northwest suburb of Houston, and it had two mature starfruit trees. They produced pretty constantly and today I collected two six inch ripe ones. These guys need to be pruned from the bottom. Can they be propagated by cuttings or even air-layering? I'd hate to waste any thing and we have space for more. Please advise.

San Francisco Conservatory of Flower's own description of one of their medicinal fruits:
"Common name: Starfruit
Scientific name: Averrhoa carambola
Family: Oxalidaceae
Part of plant used: Leaves, fruit, seeds.
Documented uses: Borneo, India, Philippines, and Vietnam
Medical action and uses:
Crushed leaves used for chickenpox, ringworm and headache.
The fruit is a laxative, refrigerant, antiscourbic, febrifuge, antidysenteric, and stimulates the appetite.
The fruit is ideal for hypertension, diabetes and as an antiparalyitic, hemostatic, antiemetic, and a diuretic.
An infusion, decoction or tincture of the crushed seeds serves as an emmenagogue, lactagogue, and, in large doses, as an abortifacent.
The seeds are narcotic, emetic. They are powdered as anodyne, useful for the treatment of asthma, colic, and jaundice. It also counters ringworm.
The leaves and flowers are consumed as an antiusive and febrifuge."

I started this plant earlier this year from seed and it has really taken off quite well! A very pretty and airy plant, I'm going to try to overwinter it as a houseplant :) I'm posting a picture of it as well!

Steven

I have not grown this plant. Averrhoa carambola is thought to have originated in Ceylon and the Moluccas; however in southeast Asia and Malaysia, it has been cultivated for many centuries. It is commonly grown in Taiwan, India, southern China, the Philippines and Queensland, Australia. It is moderately grown in Tahiti, New Caledonia, New Guinea, Guam and Hawaii. It is a naturalized plant in Puerto Rico.