70 



"Female sapodilla" grows well on inferior soil, on so-called "Broken 

 Ridge" soil, but it grows also on the best soil together with ma- 

 hogany. 



(2) "Crown Sapodilla'' — produces the second best chicle. The 

 general appearance of this tree is so similar to No. (1), "female 

 sapodilla," that even chicleros are not always certain in distinguish- 

 ing it, unless they can see the fruit, which is much smaller and of a 

 slightly different and more elongated shape from those of the "female 

 sapodilla," and not quite so delicious to eat as the latter. 



(3) "Male" or "Bastard Sapodilla" — produces little chicle, less 

 fluid and of inferior quality. The leaves are considerably larger and 

 further apart than those of Nos. (1) and (2). The fruit is small, 

 inedible and grows in small bunches. This tree does not bear fruit 

 every year. The belief that it does not bear any fruit at all is wide- 

 spread. The attribute "male" has no botanical significance; it is ap- 

 plied in the native nomenclature quite generally to plants of inferior 

 quality, while the attribute "female" is here usually used for plants 

 of superior quality. 



(4) "Chicle Bull" — the most useless of the various sapodilla 

 trees. The leaves are smaller than those of the "male sapodilla." It 

 is usually recognized by its fruit, which are the size of grapes and 

 grow in fairly great bunches almost like grapes. 



The "male" sapodilla tree or "chicle macho" (Record and Kuy- 

 len, 1926) of British Honduras, as reported by Hummel, has been 

 described from Guatemala and Mexico, where Pittier treated it as a 

 new species, A. chicle. On the basis of reports which he received 

 from chicleros, Pittier regarded this species as the chief source of 

 chicle, and stated : "The chicle of commerce is not extracted exclu- 

 sively, if at all, from the latter species, Achras sapota." This conten- 

 tion has been severely criticized and is undoubtedly wrong, or at 

 least certainly needs additional proof. Record and Kuylen report that 

 the latex of A. chicle is used only to a limited extent for chicle. Hum- 

 mel's descriptions of "chicle bull" and "male" sapodilla are the same 

 with respect to size and growth of the fruits in bunches. This claim 

 has also proven to be incorrect in most instances, since "chicle bull" 

 in the crown lands of British, Honduras is very similar to "female" 

 sapodilla with respect to fruit, etc. However, in 1927 Record re- 

 ported A. chicle from Honduras with large edible fruits, which indi- 



