THE SAPOTACEOUS FRUITS 343 



species, so far as is known. The seeds, which cannot be kept 

 long, germinate more readily if the thick husk is removed 

 before planting. They should be placed in sand or light soil, 

 laid on their sides, and scarcely covered. When the young 

 plants are six or eight inches high, they may be transferred 

 to four- or five-inch pots. Their growth is rapid at first, but 

 much slower after they have exhausted the food reserves stored 

 in the large seed. It is probable that budding will prove as 

 successful with the sapote as it has with the sapodilla. Seed- 

 lings differ greatly in the size, shape, and quality of their fruits. 

 The best one should be propagated by some vegetative means. 



THE GREEN SAPOTE (Plate XX) 

 (Ccdocarpum viride, Pittier) 



While greatly superior in flavor to its congener the sapote 

 (C. mammosum) , the green sapote is much more limited in its 

 distribution. It is common in the Guatemalan highlands and 

 is found also in Honduras and (rarely) in Costa Rica. Else- 

 where it is not known, but it deserves to be cultivated through- 

 out the tropics. 



In habit and general appearance the tree greatly resembles 

 the sapote, from which it can be distinguished (according to 

 Pittier) "by the smaller leaves, downy and white beneath, 

 the smaller and differently shaped sepals, the shorter staminodes 

 and stamens, the latter with broadly ovate anthers, and above 

 all the comparatively small, green, and thin-skinned fruit and 

 the smaller, ovate seed." It is most abundant in northern 

 Guatemala (the Alta Verapaz), where it grows usually at 

 elevations of 4000 to 6000 feet. Unlike its relative the sapote, 

 it does not thrive in the hot lowlands. The lower limit of its 

 cultivation is approximately 3000 feet, the upper between 6000 

 and 7000 feet. 



The fruit, which is known in Guatemala as injerto (Spanish) 



