SAPIUM 



SAPODILLA 



3073 



sebiferum, Roxbg. (Croton seblferus, Linn. Excae- 

 caria sebifera, Muell. Arg. Stillinffia sebifera, Michx.). 

 CHINESE TALLOW TREE. VEGETABLE TALLOW. Tree, 

 25-30 ft. high: Ivs. broad rhombic-ovate, 1-3 in. 

 broad, beautifully red-colored in age: racemes terminal: 

 caps. Viva, thick: seeds long adhering to the central 

 column," the aril-like coating white. China, and now 

 cult, and naturalized in many tropical lands. 



Among the species noted for their very poisonous juice are: 

 6. tndicum. Wild., with white bark and oblong willow-like Ivs., in 

 India, and S. Hippomant, Mey., MILK THEE, Poisox TBEE, with 

 thick elliptical Ivs. with the apex cucullate inflexed. W. Indies to 



J. B. S. NORTON. 



SAPODILLA is the name applied in the United 

 States to Achras Sapota, Linn., of the family Sapo- 

 tacfie. generally considered one of the best indigenous 

 fruits of the American tropics. The tree is commonly 

 cultivated, as well as naturalized, on the Florida Keys, 

 and the fruit (Fig. 3545) is offered in south Florida 

 markets. 



Botanically the sapodilla is closely related to the 

 mamey sapote (Lucuma mammosa), the ti-es (L. 

 nervosa) and the star-apple (Chrysophyllum Caintio), 

 fruits which are well known in various parts of tropical 

 America. The tree is evergreen, stately, with a dense 

 rounded or conical crown sometimes attaining a height 

 of 50 to 60 feet, horizontal or drooping branches, and 

 stiff, glossy leaves thickly clustered at the ends of the 

 young branchlets. The wood is hard and very durable, 

 timbers in an excellent state of preservation having 

 been found in the Mayan ruins of Yucatan. The bark 

 contains a milky latex known commercially as chicle, 



3545. Sapodilla, the fruit of Achras Sapota. ( X about 



which is secured by tapping the trunk, and is exported 

 in considerable quantities from Mexico to the United 

 States, where it forms the basis of chewing-gum. The 

 leaves are borne upon slender petioles up to 1 inch long, 

 the blades entire or emarginate. ovate-elliptic to ellip- 

 tic-lanceolate in outline, rounded-cuneate at the base 

 and commonly obtuse at the apex, 2 to 5 inches long, 

 glabrous, of rich green color, the midrib prominent 

 below. The small inconspicuous flowers are produced 

 upon short finely pubescent pedicels in the leaf-axils 

 toward the ends of the branchlets; the calyx is composed 

 of six small ovate-acuminate hairy sepals, the corolla 

 white, tubular or urceolate, lobulate at the top, the 

 stamens six. opposite the lobules, with short flattened 

 attenuate filaments and lanceolate-acuminate extrorse 

 anthers; staminodes six, petaloid: style clavate, hairy 

 at the tip, the ovary ten- to twelve-celled, each cell 

 containing one ovule . 



The fruit is very variable in form, commonly round, 

 oval, globose-depressed, or conical, and 2 to 3 j^ inches 

 in diameter. The skin is thin, rusty brown, somewhat 

 scurfy, giving the fruit a striking resemblance to an 

 Irish potato. The flesh is yellowish brown, translucent, 



soft and melting when fully ripe, sweet and delicious, 

 but when green containing tannin and a milky latex, so 

 that it must not be eaten until it has become quite 

 mellow. The seeds vary from none to ten or twelve, 

 and are hard, black and shining, obovate, flattened, 

 about % inch long, easily separated from the pulp. 



The flavor of the sapodilla is difficult of description, 

 likened to that of a pear by some writers, and with a 

 peculiar character common to several sapotaceous 

 fruits. Some of the early writers were enthusiastic in 

 praising it, the Spanish historian, Oviedo, going so far 

 as to call the sapodilla the best of all fruits. More 

 recently Finninger, an Anglo-Indian horticulturist, 

 wrote that "a more luscious, cool and agreeable fruit is 

 not to be met with in this or perhaps any country in 

 the world," while Descourtilz says it is "melting, and 

 has the sweet perfumes of honey, jasmin, and lily-of-the 

 valley." In Florida it is a general favorite, especially 

 among residents of the keys, and in numerous other 

 parts of tropical America it assumes considerable 

 importance among cultivated fruits. 



The tree is considered by Pittier to be indigenous in 

 Mexico south of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, in Guate- 

 mala, and possibly in Salvador and northern Honduras, 

 being especially abundant in the lowlands of Tabasco, 

 Chiapas, and the western part of Yucatan, which are 

 the principal centers of production of chicle gum. The 

 common name is derived from the Xahuatl word 

 zapotl or tzicozapotl, the latter meaning "gum zapotl" 

 and surviving to the present day in the precise form 

 chicozapote, by which the tree is commonly known in 

 southern Mexico; zapotl was the name given by the 

 Aztecs to all soft sweet fruits. In Spanish-speaking 

 countries the sapodilla is frequently called nispero, 

 which name properly belongs to the European medlar. 

 In the British West Indies the name naseberry is 

 common. In Brazil one form of the fruit is called sapoti, 

 another sapota. The German name for the tree is 

 Breiapfelbaum, the French sapotillier, and the Dutch 

 mispelbopm. 



From its home in tropical America, the sapodilla has 

 been carried around the globe, and though less com- 

 monly cultivated in the Orient than the papaya, it is 

 grown in many regions, particularly in some parts of 

 southern India, where, according to MacmiUan, it 

 thrives up to elevations of 3,000 feet, though in Ceylon 

 it is seldom productive above 1,500 feet and succeeds 

 best on the coast. In Ecuador its cultivation is said by 

 Pittier to extend into the temperate belt at altitudes of 

 more than 8,000 feet. Its culture in Florida is limited to 

 the southern part of the state, approximately the sec- 

 tion south of Palm Beach on the east coast and the 

 Manatee River on the west. Mature trees have passed 

 uninjured through temperatures of 28 F., according 

 to Reasoner. A notable advantage of the tree for 

 some parts of the West Indies is the fact that the 

 branches are tough and not easily broken by hurri- 

 canes. In California it has not yet fruited, though in 

 favored locations specimens have occasionally attained 

 an age of several years without being injured by frost. 

 Even in the tropics, however, the tree grows very slowly, 

 and in California the cool winters greatly hinder its 

 development. It seems probable that it may yet be 

 fruited in protected foothill regions, but its culture in 

 most parts of southern California is not practicable. 



The soil best adapted to the sapodilla seems to be 

 rich sandy loam, but it thrives almost equally well on 

 light clay and on the shallow sandy soil, underlaid with 

 soft limestone, which is found on the lower east coast 

 of Florida. Even though grown under the most favor- 

 able conditions, the trees rarely come into bearing 

 until six to eight years of age, if seedlings, and in some 

 sections do not attain a greater ultimate height than 

 20 to 30 feet. They should not be set closer together 

 than 25 to 30 feet, and require very little pruning, 

 because of their close compact growth. As a general 



