Lucuma.

Lucuma bifera Molina. Sapotaceae. Sapota.

Chile. This tree is cultivated in Chile. It bears twice a year, early in summer and in autumn, but the autumnal fruit alone produces kernels; these are two and have the appearance of chestnuts. The fruit is round and a little sloped. By keeping the fruits some time in straw, they become ameliorated and acquire that pleasant taste which renders them so much esteemed.

Lucuma caimito Roem.

Peru. The tree is cultivated in Peru. This fruit is about three inches long with a soft and agreeable pulp.

Lucuma mammosa Gaertn. f. Mammee. Marmalade Tree. Sapota.

West Indies and South America. In the West Indies, this tree is cultivated for its fruit. The fruit is four or five inches in diameter and is covered with a rough, russet-colored bark; the pulp is dark yellowish, soft, sweet, tasting not unlike a very ripe pear. It makes an excellent marmalade but, eaten raw, has an aperient quality.

Lucuma obovata H. B. & K. Lucuma.

Western Peru. The fruit is solid in consistence and so richly flavored that a small quantity suffices. It is sold in the markets at Lima. Garcilasso de la Vega says, "another fruit is called by the Indians of Peru, rucma; by the Spaniards, lucuma. It is a tolerable fruit, not delicate nor pleasant, though sweet rather than sour, and not known to be unwholesome, but it is coarse food. It is about the size and shape of an orange and has a kernel in the center very like a chestnut in color and size but not good to eat, being bitter."

Lucuma serpentaria H. B. & K.

Cuba. This is a doubtful species found in Cuba; the fruit is edible.

Lucuma turbinata Molina.

Chile. This species is cultivated in Chile. The fruit has the form of a whipping-top. By keeping in straw, it ripens into a much-esteemed fruit.

Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World, 1919, was edited by U. P. Hedrick.