The actual tree (the
averrhoa carambola) grows in
SE Asia, and is grown
ornamentally as well as for its
fruit yield. It is an
evergreen, and the fruits that is grows are
bizarre 10-sided truncated prisms, like
three-dimensional stars, roughly the size of a small
fist.
The fruit itself, also called a carambola (or carambole in French), and is reddish-orange and yellow with brown marks, and sweet. It can be cut into star-shaped slices, as one would with a green pepper, and used in salads. Too, one could wait a week for it to ripen, and then serve it as a dessert.
The name of the plant/fruit comes from the Indian sanskrit word "karambal". A carambola is also Spanish for a stroke in billiards, as well as refering to the red ball in the same. See also: Carom.