This little-known species is native to the State of Bahia, Brazil, is cultivated to a limited extent locally and is grown in the botanical garden in Rio de Janeiro. A very few specimens, scarcely more than shrubs, have been grown to the fruiting stage in southern Florida. The pitomba was at first considered promising for this area but has made no progress at all in the last 40 years. There is much variation in the size of fruits produced by seedlings. Sturrock made some selections and grafted them successfully.
Flowers appear in late spring and early summer in Florida and the fruiting season is in midsummer.
In Brazil the fruits ripen in November and December. The fruits are there used mainly for jelly, preserves, and carbonated beverages.