Fruitful Trees
He Traveled to 126 Countries Searching for the Rarest Fruits on Earth
What are the rarest fruits in the world?
Rare fruit collector and grower Stephen Murray takes us on an incredible journey through exotic fruits from around the globe. This lecture was filmed at the 2026 Florida Fruit Festival in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Stephen has traveled extensively searching for unusual fruit and has built an extraordinary collection of rare and exotic species. In this presentation, he shares fruits from Brazil, Australia, Africa, Asia, South America and beyond—including varieties most people have probably never seen.
You'll discover jaboticabas, Surinam cherries, Eugenias, guavas, grumichamas, Cherry of the Rio Grande, lilly pillies, pineapple guavas, native fruits, wild berries, unusual tropical fruits and much more.
Stephen discusses the incredible diversity found within individual fruit species and how he selects and breeds better varieties. For example, he has collected more than 80 selections of Surinam cherry and discusses giant selections without the resinous flavor commonly associated with the fruit.
You'll also learn why rare-fruit preservation matters. Stephen discusses myrtle rust, a disease he says is threatening native Myrtaceae species and potentially causing unique fruit genetics to disappear.
This presentation isn't only about collecting fruit. It's about finding, growing, selecting and preserving fruit genetics that could potentially become important crops in the future.
Stephen is also actively selecting plants for improved fruit. He explains how he propagates from lilly pillies producing larger fruits in hopes of developing better varieties for fruit production.
Some of the fruits discussed are already hiding in plain sight. Stephen explains that certain plants commonly used for landscaping have edible fruit that many people no longer realize can be eaten.
If you love rare fruit trees, tropical fruit, exotic fruit, food forests, fruit collecting, fruit hunting and growing unusual edible plants, you're going to enjoy this presentation.
QUESTION: What is the rarest fruit you've ever eaten?
Tell us in the comments!
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0:00 Stephen Murray – Rare Fruit Around the World
2:06 Growing Up Around Rare Fruit
3:33 Guavas & the Myrtle Family
5:22 Incredible Fruit Diversity in Brazil
6:45 Surinam Cherry Varieties
9:04 Giant Surinam Cherries
10:41 Strange & Unusual Guavas
12:02 Eugenias & Rare Brazilian Fruits
14:35 Grumichama & Cherry of the Rio Grande
17:47 Traveling the World for Fruit
18:51 Jaboticabas & the Threat of Myrtle Rust
21:04 Yellow Jaboticabas & Amazonian Fruit
23:09 Incredible Jaboticaba Diversity
23:59 Selling Rare Fruit at Farmers Markets
25:42 Murray Family Farm
26:31 Importing Rare Fruit Seeds
27:25 Why Rare Fruit Matters
28:05 Creating New Fruit Varieties
29:05 African Fruit & Medlars
30:03 Inside His Rare Fruit Greenhouse
30:50 Breeding Better Lilly Pillies
35:21 Forgotten Native Edible Fruits
37:05 Wild Goji Berry Relatives
38:06 Pawpaws & Native Fruits
39:08 Edible Palms & Wild Berries
40:18 Creating a Warm-Climate Gooseberry
The presentation continues considerably beyond this point—the transcript reaches past 1:12—so for the uploaded video I would make the final chapter list cover the entire presentation, rather than stopping at 40 minutes. The later section includes pineapple guava, Australian fruits and other unusual species.
See Stephen' Instagram page
https://www.instagram.com/murraystevena2
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Published Aug 21, 2026
