Pouteria cuspidata

Family: Sapotaceae

What it is like

A tree. It grows to 30 m high. The trunk is 60 cm across. There are slender buttresses 1.5 m high. The young shoots have soft hairs at first. The leaves are spaced. They are arranged in spirals. They are 6-15 cm long by 2.5-5 cm wide. The leaf stalk is 0.4-2 cm long. The flowers occur in tufts of 2-25 flowers in the axils of leaves or below the leaves. The flowers are on one sex with separate sexes on separate plants. The flowers are white to pale green. The fruit are 2.3-5.5 cm long. They are oval. They ripen to yellow or orange. There is one seed. The seed is 1.4-2,7 cm long. The pulp around the seed is edible.

There are about 150-320 Pouteria species. They grow in the tropics.

Where it is found

A tropical plant. It usually grows along the edges of rivers. It can occur on flooded land. It grows from sea level to 550 m altitude.

Countries/locations it is found in

Amazon, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guiana, Guianas, Guyana, Peru, South America, Suriname, Venezuela

How it is used for food

The pulp is sweet.

The fruit are important.

Edible parts

Fruit

How it is grown

Its other names

Local names

Abiurana, Abiurana flor miuda, Abiurana matamata, Caujem Courouitaballi, Jara, Kokeritiballi, Kwoo, Maparajuba de matta, Menime, Purguillo felix, Quinilla, Taymarito, Temare, Shaka, Tochi

Synonyms

Bumelia amazonica Krause; Calocarpum procerum var. oblonga (Pierre) Dubard; Pouteria albiflora Baehni; Pouteria cuspidata subsp. cuspidata; Pouteria elegans var micrantha (Miquel) Baehni; Sideroxylon cuspidatum A. de Candolle; Sideroxylon cuspidatum var. ellipticum Miquel; Sideroxylon elegans var. micranthum Miquel; Sideroxylon ellipticum Klotzsch ex Miq.; Urbanella oblonga Pierre;