About

Pouteria is a genus of flowering trees in the gutta-percha family, Sapotaceae. The genus is widespread throughout the tropical Americas, with outlier species in Cameroon and Malesia. It includes the green sapote (P. viridis), the mamey sapote (P. sapota), and the abiu (P. caimito). Commonly, this genus is known as pouteria trees.

Pouteria is related to Manilkara, another genus that produces hard and heavy woods (e.g. balatá, M. bidentata) used commonly for tropical construction, as well as edible fruit (such as sapodilla, M. zapota).

Where it grows

Pouteria, as currently delineated, has 170 species in the tropical Americas, from Mexico to northern Argentina and central Chile, including Florida and the Caribbean islands. Four species are found outside the Americas. Pouteria hexastemon is native to Cameroon in west-central Africa, and three species are native to Indonesia – Pouteria celebica to Sulawesi, Pouteria lucida to Maluku, and Pouteria oxyedra to Sumatra.

Uses

Many species, such as Pouteria sapota, have edible fruits and are important foods, seasonally. Some are being commercially collected and sold on local markets or packed in cans.

Other Pouteria plants

Egg Fruit · Labatia beaurepairei · Labatia psammophila · Lucuma arguacoensium · Lucuma bifera · Jacana · Lucuma grandiflora · Bullytree · Egg Fruit · Egg Fruit · Egg Fruit · Pouteria amapaensis