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Manilkara zapota
Also called Naseberry, Mespel, Misple, Sapodille, Sapotilla, Chicle, Chiku
In Singapore: Chiku, Sapodilla, Sauh Menila, Naseberry, Nispero, Chicle, Chicle Gum, Ciku, 人心果 (Grown in Singapore)
Sapodilla is an evergreen tree from southern Mexico and Central America, grown for its sweet brown fruit and latex. It needs a warm frost-free climate and takes five to eight years from seed to fruit.
Manilkara zapota, commonly known as sapodilla (Spanish: [ˌsapoˈðiʝa]), sapote, chicozapote, chico, chicoo, chicle, naseberry, nispero, or soapapple, among other names, is an evergreen tree native to southern Mexico and Central America. An example of natural occurrence is in coastal Yucatán, in the Petenes mangroves ecoregion, where it is a subdominant plant species. It was introduced to the Philippines during Spanish colonization. It is grown in large quantities in Mexico and in tropical Asia, including India, Pakistan, Thailand, Malaysia, Maldives, Cambodia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Bangladesh, as well as in the Caribbean.
The fruit is edible and a favorite in the tropical Americas. Chicle from the bark is used to make chewing gum.
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Manilkara zapota 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.
