''Byrsonima crassifolia'' is a species of flowering plant in the family

Malpighiaceae Malpighiaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Malpighiales. It comprises about 73 genera and 1315 species, all of which are native to the tropics and subtropics. About 80% of the genera and 90% of the species occur in the New World ( ...

, native to tropical

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Common names used in English include nance, maricao cimun, craboo, and golden spoon. In Jamaica it is called hogberry. It's valued for its small (between one, and one and a quarter centimeter in diameter) round, sweet yellow fruit which is strongly scented. The fruits have a very pungent and distinct flavor and smell. When jarred, their texture resembles that of a green or kalamata olive.

Description and habitat

''Byrsonima crassifolia'' is a slow-growing large shrub or tree to . Sometimes cultivated for its edible fruits, the tree is native and abundant in the wild, sometimes in extensive stands, in open pine forests and grassy savannas, from central Mexico, through Central America, to

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 ...

, Peru,

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

and Brazil; it also occurs in Trinidad, Barbados,

Curaçao Curaçao ( ; ; pap, Kòrsou, ), officially the Country of Curaçao ( nl, Land Curaçao; pap, Pais Kòrsou), is a Lesser Antilles island country in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about north of the Venezuela coast ...

, St. Martin,

Dominica Dominica ( or ; Kalinago: ; french: Dominique; Dominican Creole French: ), officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of the island. It is geographically ...

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe (; ; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Gwadloup, ) is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and the ...

, Puerto Rico,

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

, the Dominican Republic and throughout Cuba and the Isle of Pines. The nance is limited to tropical and subtropical climates. In Central and South America, the tree ranges from sea-level to an altitude of . It is highly drought-tolerant.

Example ecoregions of occurrence

Found in a number of tropical and subtropical ecoregions of the Americas that feature conifers, an example ecoregion of occurrence for ''B. crassifolia'' is the

Belizean pine forests Belizean may refer to: * Something of, or related to Belize, a Central American nation * Belizean people, people originating in Belize whether they live there or in the Belizean diaspora * Belizean population, see Demographics of Belize * Belizean ...

.C. Michael Hogan & World Wildlife Fund. 2012
Belizean pine forests. ed. M. McGinley. Encyclopedia of Earth. Washington DC
/ref>

Uses

The fruits are eaten raw or cooked as dessert. In rural Panama, the dessert prepared with the addition of sugar and flour, known as ''pesada de nance,'' is quite popular. The fruits are also made into ''dulce de nance,'' a candy prepared with the fruit cooked in sugar and water. In Nicaragua (where the fruit is called ''nancite''), it is a popular ingredient for several desserts, including ''raspados'' (a frozen dessert made from a drink prepared with nancites) and a dessert made by leaving the fruit to ferment with some sugar in a bottle for several months (usually from harvest around August–September until December) -- this is sometimes called "nancite in vinegar". The fruits are also often used to prepare carbonated beverages, ice cream and juice; in Brazil, to flavor mezcal-based

liqueur A liqueur (; ; ) is an alcoholic drink composed of spirits (often rectified spirit) and additional flavorings such as sugar, fruits, herbs, and spices. Often served with or after dessert, they are typically heavily sweetened and un-aged beyond ...

s, or make an oily, acidic,

fermented beverage This is a list of fermented foods, which are foods produced or preserved by the action of microorganisms. In this context, fermentation typically refers to the fermentation of sugar to alcohol using yeast, but other fermentation processes involv ...

known as ''

chicha ''Chicha'' is a fermented (alcoholic) or non-fermented beverage of Latin America, emerging from the Andes and Amazonia regions. In both the pre- and post-Spanish conquest periods, corn beer (''chicha de jora'') made from a variety of maize land ...

,'' the standard term applied to assorted beer-like drinks made of fruits or maize. Nance is used to distill a rum-like liquor called ''crema de nance'' in Costa Rica. Mexico produces a ''licor de nanche''. In Veracruz, Mexico, it is called ''nanche'' and it is a common dessert element that can be found in the form of popsicles (''percheronas'') and ice sorbets (''

raspado Shaved ice is a large family of ice-based desserts made of fine shavings of ice or finely crushed ice and sweet condiments or syrups. Usually, the syrup is added after the ice has been frozen and shaved—typically at the point of sale; however, ...

'').

Gallery

File:Byrsonima crassifolia(Fruto).jpg, Fruit File:Nance Inflorescence (16558227361).jpg, Flowers File:Byrsonima crassifolia (7554340816).jpg, Tree

References

External links