The capulin is a true cherry and doesn't really belong with fruits of warm regions. P. capuli Cav. In Colombia it is sometimes called cerezo criollo.
New leaves are often rosy.
There is a single stone with a bitter kernel. The capulin is native and common throughout the Valley of Mexico from Sonora to Chiapas and Veracruz, and possibly also indigenous to western Guatemala. It has been cultivated since early times in these areas and other parts of Central America and in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia, and is extensively and abundantly naturalized. The fruit is an important food, not only of the Indians, but of all the inhabitants, and it was at times a mainstay of the invading Spaniards. Great quantities appear in the native markets, especially of El Salvador, Guatemala and Ecuador.