''Licania platypus'', also known as sun sapote, sansapote, sonzapote, sunzapote, sungano, zapote cabelludo, sapote, sangre, zapote amarillo, zapote borracho, zapote cabello, zapote de mico, zapote de mono, mesonsapote, mezonzapote, cabeza de mico, caca de nino, sonza, sunza, zunza, chaute jolobob, urraco, chupa, and monkey apple, is a flowering tree in the family

Chrysobalanaceae Chrysobalanaceae is a family of flowering plants, consisting of trees and shrubs in 27 genera and about 700 species of pantropical distribution with a centre of diversity in the Amazon. Some of the species contain silica in their bodies for rigi ...

Distribution

''Licania platypus'' is native to southern

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

south to northern

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

and grows wild in dense forests up to in elevation. It has been introduced to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, and

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

Description

The tree grows erect, sometimes reaching in height. It has a thick, rounded crown and is heavily foliaged. The bark is dark purplish to brown in color and is dotted with small white to reddish-white

lenticels A lenticel is a porous tissue consisting of cells with large intercellular spaces in the periderm of the secondarily thickened organs and the bark of woody stems and roots of dicotyledonous flowering plants. It functions as a pore, providing a ...

. The trunk is sometimes buttressed. The leaves are deciduous and alternate, sometimes spiraled, and elliptic to lanceolate in shape. It is pointed at both ends and measures in length and in width, and has a thick midrib. New foliage is bronze or reddish-purple in color and is very showy. The flowers, which are abundant and fragrant and are in broad terminal and branched

panicles A panicle is a much-branched inflorescence. (softcover ). Some authors distinguish it from a compound spike inflorescence, by requiring that the flowers (and fruit) be pedicellate (having a single stem per flower). The branches of a panicle are o ...

which measure in length, are small and hairy and have recurved petals with numerous protruding

stamens The stamen (plural ''stamina'' or ''stamens'') is the pollen-producing reproductive organ of a flower. Collectively the stamens form the androecium., p. 10 Morphology and terminology A stamen typically consists of a stalk called the filame ...

. Only 1-3 fruits form from each particle. The fruit is edible and is obovoid to pyriform in shape and measures in length and in width. It has a rather thin, sometimes warty rind which is dark brown to reddish in color and dotted with white

. The flesh is orange-yellow to yellow in color, somewhat pumpkin-scented, soft, fibrous, and dry or juicy, and has a mildly sweet flavor somewhat similar to

sapodilla ''Manilkara zapota'', commonly known as sapodilla (), sapote, naseberry, nispero or chicle, is a long-lived, evergreen tree native to southern Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. An example natural occurrence is in coastal Yucatán in the ...

. It normally contains 1 seed which is ovate to oblong and flattened in shape and measures in length. It blooms from July to September and fruits from August to December the following year. Fruiting begins when the tree is about 10 years of age. It is hardy to USDA zone 11 and does not tolerate frost or temperatures below 4.5 C (40 F).

Drought tolerance

''Licania platypus'' is surprisingly drought tolerant compared to that of many other species native to central

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

. Experiments with 15-month-old seedlings showed slight wilting corresponding to leaf water potentials and relative water contents of -2.7 MPa and 0.85, and plants did not die until these values fell to -7.5 MPa and 0.14.

Uses

The tree is planted as an ornamental and shade tree throughout

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

. The fruits, although held in low esteem, are eaten when no better fruits are available and are sometimes sold in local markets. They are eaten by

tapirs Tapirs ( ) are large, herbivorous mammals belonging to the family Tapiridae. They are similar in shape to a pig, with a short, prehensile nose trunk. Tapirs inhabit jungle and forest regions of South and Central America, with one species inhabit ...

and

peccaries A peccary (also javelina or skunk pig) is a medium-sized, pig-like hoofed mammal of the family Tayassuidae (New World pigs). They are found throughout Central and South America, Trinidad in the Caribbean, and in the southwestern area of North A ...

when fallen on the ground. The wood of the tree is fine-grained, heavy, and strong, although not durable in contact with the ground. It is sometimes used in furniture making and cabinetwork, although not often as the tree is seldom felled.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q15355355 Taxa named by Karl Fritsch Plants described in 1889 Fruit trees Flora of Mexico Flora of Central America Flora of Colombia IUCN Red List least concern species Edible fruits Ornamental trees

platypus The platypus (''Ornithorhynchus anatinus''), sometimes referred to as the duck-billed platypus, is a semiaquatic, egg-laying mammal Endemic (ecology), endemic to Eastern states of Australia, eastern Australia, including Tasmania. The platypu ...

Taxobox binomials not recognized by IUCN

Distribution

Description

Drought tolerance

Uses

See also

References