1120 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM. 



The wood is fine, hard, and reddish. It is used for making carts and 

 other articles. The bark is said to contain an alkaloid, sapotine, and is em- 

 ployed locally as a remedy for fevers. Diuretic properties are attributed 

 to the seeds. 



Achras cosapiiico Llave,^ described from Veracruz, is probably a synonym. 

 It was described as having yellow fruit, and the vernacular name was given 

 as " cosagilico," which, according to Urbina, should probably be " cozahuico." 



The tree is descx'ibed by HernSndez under the name " xicozapotl." For illus- 

 trations see Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 18: pi. J,6, //7. 



5. CALOCARPUM Pierre in Urban; Symb. Antill. 5: 97. 1904. 

 Only one other species is known, a native of Central America. 



1, Calocarpum mammosum (L.) Pierre in Urban, Symb. Antill. 5: 98. 1904. 



Sidcro.vi/lum sapota Jacq. Enum. PI. Carib. 15. 1760. 



Achras mammosa L. Sp. PI. ed. 2. 469. 1762. 



Lucuma mammosa Gaertn. f. Fruct. & Sem. 3: 129. pi. 203. 1805. 



Yitellaria mammosa Radlk. Sitzungsb. Math. Phys. Akad. Wiss. Miinchen 

 12: 296. 1882. 



Achradelpha mammosa Cook, Journ. Washington Acad. Sci. 3: 160. 1913. 



Widely cultivated in the warmer parts of Mexico, as far north as Sinaloa ; 

 perhaps native in southern Mexico. Widely distributed in tropical America, 

 at least in cultivation. 



Tree, 10 to 30 meters high, with milky juice, the crown rounded or do- 

 pressed; bark reddish brown, shaggy; leaves deciduous, petiolate, obovate, 10 

 to 30 cm. long, rounded to acute at apex, attenuate at base, pubescent beneath 

 when young but soon glabrate, the lateral nerves distant, parallel ; flowers 

 glomerate, subsessile, on defoliate branches; sepals 8 to 10, 2.5 to 6 mm. long, 

 sericeous ; corolla white, 9 to 10 mm. long, 5-lobate ; fruit globose or ovoid, 8 

 to 20 cm. long, pointed at apex, the skin brown, scaly, the flesh pink or reddish ; 

 seed 1, about 8 cm. long, smooth and lustrous except for the large ventral area. 

 "Zapote" (various localities, also Central America, Colombia, Ecuador, from 

 the Nahuatl. tzapotl) ; " atzapotlquahuitl " (Nahuatl, Ramirez); "zapote 

 Colorado" (Tabasco, Ramirez); " tezonzapote " (southern Mexico, from the 

 Nahuatl, tezontzapotl ; " lava-zapote," from the rough brown skin, which resem- 

 bles tezontle, a kind of volcanic rock) ; " mamey Colorado" (Oaxaca, Yucatan, 

 Cuba, Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador); " niamey " (Guerrero, Morelos, Cuba); 

 "zapote mamey" (Morelos, Yucatan, Oaxaca, Guerrero); " haaz," "chacal 

 haaz " (YucatAn, Ma.va ; according to Seler, haaz is now the Maya Avord for 

 banana, but this is a recent application ; the sapote is now called chacal haaz, 

 "red haaz" to distinguish it from the banana); " potkak " (fruit), "kauk- 

 pahk" (seed) (Mixe, Belmar) ; "mamey zapote" (Porto Rico); " tsapas 

 sabani " (Zoque). 



The sapote (known also as " mamee sapote" and "marmalade-fruit") is 

 a common fruit tree of tropical America. By many persons the fruit is highly 

 esteemed, but it is rarely liked by those who have not been accustomed to it. 

 The flesh is sweetish, with peculiar flavor, and is often made into marmalade or 

 jelly. 



The handsome seeds, known in Mexico as " pizle " or " pixtle," and in 

 Central America as " sapuyul " or " zapoyol," are still used in Central America 

 and southern Mexico, mixed with cacao and parched corn, for the preparation 



1 Registro Trimestre, Mexico, Febr. 6, 1832. 



