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Couma utilis, the milk tree, is a tropical Amazonian tree (occasionally a shrub) in the dogbane family, valued for its sweet edible fruit and milky latex. It is grown in wet tropical lowlands with well-drained soil and is mainly of interest in tropical gardens and orchards.
Couma utilis, called the milk tree, sorvinha, sorveira, sorva (a name it shares with its larger relative Couma macrocarpa), and sorva-pequena, is a species of flowering plant in the subfamily Rauvolfioideae, native to the Orinoco and Amazon basins of South America. It is thought that C. utilis was on the verge of being domesticated by indigenous Amazonian peoples prior to the arrival of Europeans in the New World.
C. utilis grows well in the nutrient poor oxisols of the Amazon rainforest, preferring wet but unflooded areas between sea level and 500 m (1,600 ft) elevation. It also grows in anthropogenically disturbed soils, unlike its wilder congeners C. macrocarpa and C. guianensis. In cultivation in the central Amazon, a tree produces almost 40 kg (88 lb) of fruit per year, a yield of about 15 t/ha (6.0 long ton/acre; 6.7 short ton/acre).
As its specific epithet implies, Couma utilis has many uses. Its fruits are delectable and available in market towns such as Manaus and Belém. Sometimes the pulp is used as flavor for ice cream. Its latex has many uses, including as a base (commercially called pendare) for chewing gum, for boat-caulking and for whitewashing houses. The raw latex is sweet and is used as a milk substitute by people in areas where dairy milk is not readily available. Its wood is occasionally used for construction and cabinetry. It is planted as an ornamental tree for its profusion of attractive pink to light purple flowers.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Couma utilis by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
