Morris Arkin (October 18, 1910 – November 19, 1996) was a Washington D.C. native and retired stockbroker whose backyard experiments in tree propagation helped expand the market for Florida-grown star fruit and macadamia nuts.
During the late 1960s, Mr. Arkin began cultivating plants and trees in his backyard, eventually developing a variety of carambola, or star fruit, that became commercially viable and was named after him.
Until the early 1970s, carambola had been grown only as specimen trees in botanical gardens and experiment stations and as a curiosity in home landscapes.
However, because of its attractive star shape when cut in cross-section and yellow to golden color,[1] it began to grow in popularity.
This limited market and public acceptance, inhibiting development and expansion of carambola as a commercial fresh fruit.