Averrhoa carambola Averrhoa carambola Averrhoa carambola is a species of tree in the family Oxalidaceae; it has a number of common names, including carambola and star fruit. This evergreen tree is native to Southeast Asia and the Indian Subcontinent. "A. carambola" is a small tree or shrub that grows 5–12 metres tall, with rose to red-purple flowers. The flowers are small and bell-shaped, with five petals that have whitish edges. The flowers are often produced year round under tropical conditions. The tree is cultivated in tropical and semitropical regions for its edible fruits and for its medicinal uses. Botanically pericarp is the
Common name or coinages; such names generally are difficult for laymen to learn, remember, and pronounce and so, in such books as field guides, biologists commonly publish lists of coined common names. Many examples of such common names simply are attempts to translate the Latinised name into English or some other vernacular. Such translation may be confusing in itself, or confusingly inaccurate, for example, "gratiosus" does not mean "gracile" and "gracilis" does not mean "graceful". The practice of coining common names has long been discouraged; de Candolle's "Laws of Botanical Nomenclature", 1868, the non-binding recommendations that form the basis of the modern