| |
Manilkara zapota
|
| |
|
| |
Family:
SAPOTACEAE
|
| |
Citation: Manilkara zapota (L.) P.Royen, Blumea 7: 410. 1953; Antony, Syst. Stud. Fl. Kottayam Dist. 231. 1989; Babu, Fl. Malappuram Dist. 395. 1990; Vajr., Fl. Palghat Dist. 268. 1990; Subram., Fl. Thenmala Div. 201. 1995; Anil Kumar et al., Fl. Pathanamthitta 297. 2005; Sunil & Sivadasan, Fl. Alappuzha Dist. 408. 2009; Ratheesh Narayanan, Fl. Stud. Wayanad Dist. 497. 2009.
Achras zapota L., Sp. Pl. 1190. 1753.
Achras sapota L., Sp. Pl. (ed.2) 469. 1762; Hook. f., Fl. Brit. India 3: 534. 1882; Gamble, Fl. Pres. Madras 759(533). 1921; Sasidh. & Sivar., Fl. Pl. Thrissur For. 269. 1996.
Sapota achras Mill., Gard. Dict. (ed. 1) 8. 1768.
Manilkara achras (Mill.) Fosberg., Taxon 13: 255. 1964; Manilal & Sivar., Fl. Calicut 157. 1982.
|
| |
Malayalam Name(s):
Chiku, Sappota
|
| |
Tamil name(s):
|
| |
English name(s):
Chiku, Naseberry, Nispero, Sapota, Sapodilla
|
| |
Description:
Trees, to 15 m high, young parts covered with brown hairs; exudation milky white latex. Leaves simple, alternate, spiral, clustered towards the apex of branchlets; petiole 10-30 mm long, stout, glabrous; lamina 7-15.5 ×2.5-4.5 cm, elliptic, elliptic-obovate or elliptic-oblanceolate, base acute or attenuate, apex slightly acuminate with retuse tip, margin entire, glabrous, coriaceous; lateral nerves many parallel, slender, faint, intercostae reticulate, obscure. Flowers bisexual, white, solitary or in pairs from the axils of upper leaves; pedicels 0.8-2 cm long, scurfy; sepals 6, 3+3; 6.5-10 mm long; corolla 0.7-1.1 cm long, campanulate, greenish-white or cream; lobes 6, irregularly 2-3 toothed; stamens 6, inserted at the top of the corolla tube; filaments free or partly fused with the staminodes; anthers extrorse; staminodes 6, alternating with the stamens, bifid, laciniate, irregularly divided; disc annular, tomentose; ovary superior, hairy, many celled, ovules many; style terminal. Fruit a berry, 3.5-8 × 3-6 cm, ovoid or ellipsoid, scaly; seeds 1.5-2.5 cm long, many, black.
|
| |
Habit:
Tree
|
| |
Flowering & Fruiting:
February-June
|
| |
District(s):
All Districts
|
| |
Medicinal:
|
| |
Habitat:
Cultivated
|
| |
Distribution:
Native of South America; widely cultivated in the tropics
|
| |
Aquatic:
No
|
| |
Epiphyte(s):
No
|
| |
Saprophyte:
No
|
| |
Stem parasite:
No
|
| |
Root parasite:
No
|
| |
Flower colour(s):
White
|
| |
Weed:
No
|
| |
Monocot/Dicot:
Dicotyledonous Plants
|
| |
Exotic:
Yes
|
| |
Garden:
No
|
| |
Edible:
Yes
|
| |
Vegetable:
No
|
| |
Endemic to:
|
| |
IUCN status:
|
| |
Altitude:
|
| |
Localities:
Kanjikuzhi, Villumalai, Ariankavu
|