Sideroxylon capiri

(A. de Candolle) Pittier

Capiri, Capire

Sapotaceae Edible: Fruit 252 iNaturalist observations

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Description

A tree. It grows 18 m tall. The trunk is 75 cm across. The bark is grey and peels off. The young shoots and leaves are hairy. The flowers are yellow or greenish-white. The fruit are 2.5-4 cm long. The fruit ripens yellow. There is one seed inside. The seed is 1.6-2.5 cm long. It has a hard, smooth shiny coat. The fruit are edible.

Edible Uses

The fruit is eaten and sold in local markets.

Distribution

It is a tropical plant. It grows in tropical deciduous forest from sea level to 1,600 m altitude.

Where It Grows

Belize, Central America, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, North America, Panama, Peru, South America, Trinidad & Tobago,

Other Uses

The wood is lemon to orange, its lustre medium; taste somewhat bitter; very hard, heavy, tough, and strong; specific gravity about 1.05, the weight about 66 pounds per cubic foot; texture medium, the grain straight to variable; not easy to work but finishes smoothly; durability fair. The wood is valued for fuel because it burns for a long time

Other Information

The fruit are sold in local markets.

Synonyms

Achras capiri (A DC.) Sesse & MocinoLucuma capiri A DC.Mastichodendron capiri (A DC.) CronquistParalabatia capiri (A DC.) BaehniSideroxylon petiolare A. Gray

Also Known As

Capire, Cosaguite, Tempisque

References (7)

Casas, A., et al, 1996, Plant Management Among the Nahua and the Mixtec in the Balsas River Basin, Mexico: An Ethnobotanical Approach to the Study of Plant Domestication. Human Ecology, Vol. 24, No. 4 pp. 455-478
Cruz, I. M., et al, 2015, Edible fruits and seeds in the State of Mexico. Revista Mexicana de Ciencias Agricolas. Vol. 6. Num. 2 pp 331-346
Grandtner, M. M., 2008, World Dictionary of Trees. Wood and Forest Science Department. Laval University, Quebec, Qc Canada. (Internet database http://www.wdt.qc.ca)
Grandtner, M. M. & Chevrette, J., 2013, Dictionary of Trees, Volume 2: South America: Nomenclature, Taxonomy and Ecology. Academic Press p 603
Kermath, B. M., et al, 2014, Food Plants in the Americas: A survey of the domesticated, cultivated and wild plants used for Human food in North, Central and South America and the Caribbean. On line draft. p 801

Show all 7 references

Pennington, T.D., 1990, Sapotaceae in Flora Neotropica Monograph 52. New York Botanical Gardens. p 157
Segura, S., et al, 2018, The edible fruit species in Mexico. Genet Resour Crop Evol (2018) 65:1767–1793