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Honduras Nispero, zapote, zapotillo 



Ecuador Nispero quitense 



Brazil Sapote, sapotilla 



The terms "nispero," "zapote," "zapotillo," used generally 

 throughout Central America for A. zapota, are often extended to 

 include several genera and species of the Sapotaceae, such as Sider- 

 oxylon mnygdaliniiin, S. Gaumeri, S. Meyeri, Lucuma salicijolia, 

 L. Durlandii, Dipholis Stevensonii, Calocarpuni manimosiini, C. 

 viride, Chrysophylliun olivijorme, and others. It is not surprising 

 then that in the early attempts to classify the chicle-yielding trees 

 confusion arose among collectors in separate localities. In recent 

 years, however, more extensive botanical collections have been made 

 in the chicle areas, and the commercially important trees are fairly 

 well known. 



Achras zapota itself, as noted before, shows considerable varia- 

 tion in different localities, and a number of local varieties are recog- 

 nized by the chicleros. In regions south of the Belize River, British 

 Honduras, and in certain localities in Peten. Guatemala, is found the 

 form of A. zapota which is generally known as "chicle bull" or 

 "chiquibul." Taxonomically and morphologically, as far as it has 

 been studied, it is reported to be the same as A. zapota, but for 

 chewing purposes its gum is very inferior to that of trees growing 

 north of this river. The latex is difficult to coagulate and requires 

 longer boiling, while the resulting gum must be worked and fre- 

 quently washed before it can be molded and hardened sufficiently for 

 shipment. Since trees yielding "chicle bull" are commonly found on 

 a slightly different type of soil, the difference in quality of the gum 

 has been attributed to this variation. The sapodilla tree appears to 

 flourish best on calcareous marl and disintegrated limestone which 

 predominate in the Yucatecan Peninsula of Mexico, northern British 

 Honduras, and the Peten District of Guatemala ; and it is primarily 

 from this contiguous area that the best A. zapota chicle comes. 

 South of this region the surface soil is reported to be less limey, and 

 here occur A. chicle, "chicle bull," and the so-called "bastard sapodil- 

 las" in greater abundance. A soil rich in lime is thus regarded by 

 chicle operators as necessary for good chicle. It is not uncommon, 

 however, in regions where they overlap to find the two kinds of 

 sapodillas growing side by side in the same type of soil, but still 

 showing a marked difference in gum quality. In view of this it is 



