Smooth pouteria
Pouteria laevigata

Family: Sapotaceae

What it is like

A tree. It grows 50 m tall. The trunk is 65 cm across. Young shoots have a few fine hairs. The bark is pale grey and finely cracked. The leaves are loosely clustered towards the tips and arranged in spirals. The leaves are 6-18 cm long by 4-7 cm wide. They are broadly sword shaped and there are 9-13 pairs of secondary veins. The flowers are in groups in the axils usually of fallen leaves. There are 2-15 flowers in a group. The flowers are cream to white. The fruit are 6-9 cm long and oval. They contain several seeds. These are about 4 cm long.

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

Where it is found

A tropical plant. It grows in lowland forests on non flooded sites but also in places that are occasionally flooded. It grows between 100-400 m above sea level.

Countries/locations it is found in

Amazon, Brazil, Central America, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guianas, Peru, South America (country/location of origin), Venezuela

How it is used for food

Edible parts

Fruit

How it is grown

Flowers occur February to June but can occur all year round.

Its other names

Local names

Abiurana sapota, Arbol de churuco, Aviyu, Awe gomaradebe, Caimitillo, Caramury, Caucho, Dayahuetoa, Naso toa, Pendare rebalsero, Quinea wuina blanca, Sacha aviyu, Shiringa arana

Synonyms

Guapeba laevigata (Mart.) Pierre; Labatia laevigata Martius; Lucuma laevigata (Mart.) A. DC.; Pouteria bouffardiana Bernardi;