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Sapotaceae | |
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Foliage and fruit (a berry containing one seed) of Pouteria sapota | |
Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Asterids |
Order: | Ericales |
Family: | Sapotaceae Juss. [1] |
Type genus | |
Manilkara Adans. [2] | |
Subfamilies | |
The Sapotaceae are a family of flowering plants belonging to the order Ericales. The family includes about 800 species of evergreen trees and shrubs in around 65 genera (35-75, depending on generic definition). Their distribution is pantropical.
Many species produce edible fruits, or white blood-sap that is used to cleanse dirt, organically and manually, while others have other economic uses. Species noted for their edible fruits include Manilkara (sapodilla), Chrysophyllum cainito (star-apple or golden leaf tree), Gambeya africana and Gambeya albida (star-apple), and Pouteria ( abiu, canistel, lúcuma , mamey sapote). Vitellaria paradoxa (shi in several languages of West Africa and karité in French; also anglicized as shea) is also the source of an oil-rich nut, the source of edible shea butter, which is the major lipid source for many African ethnic groups and is also used in traditional and Western cosmetics and medications. The "miracle fruit" Synsepalum dulcificum is also placed in the Sapotaceae.
Trees of the genus Palaquium (gutta-percha) produce an important latex with a wide variety of uses. The seeds of the tree Argania spinosa produce an edible oil, traditionally harvested in Morocco.
The family name is derived from zapote , a Mexican vernacular name for one of the plants (in turn derived from the Nahuatl tzapotl) and Latinised by Linnaeus as sapota, a name now treated as a synonym of Manilkara (also formerly known by the invalid name Achras).
63 genera are currently accepted: [3]
Chrysophyllum is a group of trees in the Sapotaceae described as a genus by Linnaeus in 1753.
Palaquium is a genus of about 120 species of trees in the family Sapotaceae. Their range is from India across Southeast Asia, Malesia, Papuasia, and Australasia, to the western Pacific Islands.
Manilkara is a genus of trees in the family Sapotaceae. They are widespread in tropical and semitropical locations, in Africa, Madagascar, Asia, Australia, and Latin America, as well as various islands in the Pacific and in the Caribbean. A close relative is the genus Pouteria.
Manilkara zapota, commonly known as sapodilla, sapote, chicozapote, chicoo, chicle, naseberry, or nispero, soapapple among other names, is an evergreen tree native to southern Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean. An example 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, Cambodia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Bangladesh.
Sterculia is a genus of flowering plants in the mallow family, Malvaceae: subfamily Sterculioideae. Members of the genus are colloquially known as tropical chestnuts. Sterculia may be monoecious or dioecious, and its flowers unisexual or bisexual.
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 canistel, the mamey sapote, and the lucuma. Commonly, this genus is known as pouteria trees, or in some cases, eggfruits.
Sideroxylon is a genus of trees in the family Sapotaceae described as a genus by Linnaeus in 1753. They are collectively known as bully trees. The generic name is derived from the Greek words σιδηρος (sideros), meaning "iron", and ξύλον (xylon), meaning "wood."
Madhuca is a genus of plants in the family Sapotaceae first described as a genus in 1791.
Planchonella australis, also known by the synonym Pouteria australis, is a medium to tall rainforest tree of the family Sapotaceae native to Queensland and New South Wales, Australia. It is known by the common name black apple, wild plum, yellow buttonwood, black plum and yellow bulletwood.
Pleioluma is a genus of flowering plants in the family Sapotaceae. It includes 40 species of evergreen hermaphroditic or gynodioecious trees, reaching up to 25 meters tall.
Chrysophylloideae is a subfamily of flowering plants in the chicle family, Sapotaceae.
The Sapotoideae are a subfamily of the flowering plant family Sapotaceae. Plants in the subfamily are characterized by their leather-like leaves, often growing in a stipule fashion.
Planchonella is a genus of flowering trees in the gutta-percha family, Sapotaceae. Named in honour of Jules Émile Planchon, it was described by Jean Baptiste Louis Pierre. It contains around 110 mainly tropical species, which range from Pakistan through Southeast Asia and New Guinea to northern and eastern Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands. The genus is included in the larger genus Pouteria by some authorities, hence species such as Planchonella australis are also known as Pouteria australis.
Donella lanceolata is a plant species in the family Sapotaceae. It is a tree growing up to 30 metres (100 ft) tall, with a trunk diameter of up to 40 cm (16 in). The bark is grey to dark brown. Inflorescences bear up to 45 flowers. The fruit are brownish to purplish black, ripening yellow, round, up to 4 cm (2 in) in diameter. Its habitat is lowland forests from sea level to 700 metres (2,300 ft) altitude. Its natural range is Madagascar, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Indonesia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Queensland.
Planchonella reticulata is a flowering plant in the sapodilla family, Sapotaceae. It is a shrub or tree endemic to east-central New Caledonia. The specific epithet refers to the reticulate venation on the leaves.
Labourdonnaisia is a genus of plants in the family Sapotaceae found in tropical Asia, described as a genus in 1841.
André Aubréville was a French botanist, professor at the National Museum of Natural History in Paris and a member of the Academy of Sciences. He was the first scientist to introduce the term "desertification" (in his 1949 book: Climats, forêts et désertification de l'Afrique tropicale, and wrote a number of floras of former French colonies.
Donella is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Sapotaceae.