Do you like rare trees? If you also live in a warm area, where frosts do not occur and the temperature is mild throughout the year, you will be able to enjoy the beauty of the billia, which are fantastic plants.
They produce very pretty flowers, but they also provide good shade. Do you want to know them?
Origin and characteristics
Image - phytoimages.siu.edu
Billia are semi-deciduous trees (they lose part of their leaves every year) native to Central and South America. Specifically, you can find them in the mountains from Mexico to the north of South America. They are popularly known as carisecos or bush apples, and reach a height of 7 to 14 meters. Its crown is globose, composed of large leaves that measure up to 25cm long by 15cm wide, elliptical lanceolate, leathery and with entire margins.
The flowers are 1,5cm in diameter, and have 5 petals separated from each other. Its growth rate is slow, but its life expectancy is high, more than 60 years.
What are their cares?
If you dare to have a copy of Billia, we recommend that you provide it with the following care:
- Location: outside, in semi-shade.
- Earth:
- Pot: universal growing substrate mixed with 30% perlite.
- Garden: fertile, slightly acidic, with good drainage.
- Irrigation: frequent. Being tropical mountains where it usually rains regularly, they need a lot of water. Therefore, we will water 4-5 times a week in the hottest season, and somewhat less often the rest of the year. If possible, we will use rainwater or lime-free.
- Subscriber: during the whole warm season we can pay them once a month with ecological fertilizers.
- Multiplication: by seeds. The fruits must be collected as soon as they begin to fall from the trees and the seeds must be sown soon.
- Rusticity: they do not support cold or frost. For this reason, they can only be grown outside all year round in warm tropical climates.
Did you know the Billias?