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Plant Identification Learning Module:
Fruits & Nuts

Mamey Sapote (Calocarpum sapot, syn. Pouteria sapota)

The tree is large, erect with an open form, and upright (to 40 feet) with a thick central trunk. Leaves are large and somewhat elongate (to 12 inches long and 4 inches wide), obovate to oblanceolate, clustering in whorls at the ends of small shoots.  Brownish and pubescent when young, they are green, and glabrous when mature. Flowers are small, perfect, and white, to 2 inches, and also tend to cluster at the shoot tips. The fruit is a berry, 3-8 inches in length, ovoid in shape, with a calyx at the base. The skin is russet brown, thick, woody, and rough. The flesh is salmon pink, orange, red or reddish brown, smooth and soft to granular and contains usually 1 (but up to 4) large elliptical seeds which are hard, shiny and dark brown with a light brown scar. Mamey sapote grows only in the warmer areas of south Florida.