Monographs Details:
Authority:
Prance, Ghillean T. 1972. Chrysobalanaceae. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 9: 1-410. (Published by NYBG Press)
Prance, Ghillean T. 1972. Chrysobalanaceae. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 9: 1-410. (Published by NYBG Press)
Family:
Chrysobalanaceae
Chrysobalanaceae
Synonyms:
Prunus icaco Labat, Chrysobalanus pellocarpus G.Mey., Chrysobalanus purpureus Mill., Chrysobalanus orbicularis Schumach., Chrysobalanus icaco var. pellocarpus L., Chrysobalanus icaco var. ellipticus (Sol. ex Sabine) Hook.f., Chrysobalanus savannarum Britton, Chrysobalanus ellipticus Sol. ex Sabine, Chrysobalanus icaco var. genuinus Stehlé, M.Stehle & Quentin
Prunus icaco Labat, Chrysobalanus pellocarpus G.Mey., Chrysobalanus purpureus Mill., Chrysobalanus orbicularis Schumach., Chrysobalanus icaco var. pellocarpus L., Chrysobalanus icaco var. ellipticus (Sol. ex Sabine) Hook.f., Chrysobalanus savannarum Britton, Chrysobalanus ellipticus Sol. ex Sabine, Chrysobalanus icaco var. genuinus Stehlé, M.Stehle & Quentin
Description:
Description - Shrub or small tree to 5 m tall, the branches glabrous and lenticellate. Leaves orbicular to ovate-elliptic, 2.0-8.0 cm long, 1.2-6.0 cm broad, retuse or rounded or with a short blunt acumen not exceeding 2.0 mm at apex, subcuneate at base, glabrous on both surfaces; primary veins inconspicuous; petioles 2.0-4.0 mm long. Stipules deciduous, 1.0-3.0 mm long. Inflorescences small terminal and axillary, cymules with gray-brown tomentum. Receptacle cupuliform, tomentose on interior and exterior. Calyx lobes 5, rounded to acute. Petals exceeding calyx lobes, white, glabrous. Stamens 12-26; filaments joined for part of their length in small groups, densely hairy. Ovary pilose. Fruit ovate to obovate, 1.8-5.0 cm long; epicarp smooth with longitudinal ridges; mesocarp thin and fleshy; endocarp thin and hard with smooth, ridged exterior.
Description - Shrub or small tree to 5 m tall, the branches glabrous and lenticellate. Leaves orbicular to ovate-elliptic, 2.0-8.0 cm long, 1.2-6.0 cm broad, retuse or rounded or with a short blunt acumen not exceeding 2.0 mm at apex, subcuneate at base, glabrous on both surfaces; primary veins inconspicuous; petioles 2.0-4.0 mm long. Stipules deciduous, 1.0-3.0 mm long. Inflorescences small terminal and axillary, cymules with gray-brown tomentum. Receptacle cupuliform, tomentose on interior and exterior. Calyx lobes 5, rounded to acute. Petals exceeding calyx lobes, white, glabrous. Stamens 12-26; filaments joined for part of their length in small groups, densely hairy. Ovary pilose. Fruit ovate to obovate, 1.8-5.0 cm long; epicarp smooth with longitudinal ridges; mesocarp thin and fleshy; endocarp thin and hard with smooth, ridged exterior.
Discussion:
The fruit is edible and in Colombia and Venezuela it is cooked, bottled in syrup, and sold commercially.The extreme variation in leaf shape and size, and in fruit size exhibited by this species has led to the various names cited in synonymy. In analyzing this variation carefully, I could find no basis for the recognition of more than one species. There is little correlation among the variable characters, and no obvious grounds exist for the creation of subspecific taxa. Therefore I do not follow Hooker (1867), who divided the New World material of this species into three varieties. In this treatment var pellocarpa, and var ellipticus are not recognized as separate taxa. I have observed C. icaco in the field in Trinidad, Suriname and Brazil. Frequently the different forms grow side by side without any ecological separation, varying principally in the leaf and the fruit. The leaf varies, even on one individual, from an extremely small to a large size, and in shape from orbicular to elliptic. The fruit may be up to 4.5 cm long, or it may be as small as 0.8 mm long. The larger fruits are more conspicuously costate than the smaller ones, and tend to have a thicker more fleshy mesocarp. There is also variation in the pigment of the fruit, the mature fruit may be deep purple or black or it may be yellow. The prefix Chryso (golden) suggests that the material described by Linnaeus was yellow-skinned. The fruit of C. icaco is eaten by man, although only the larger more fleshy fruit make good eating. The differences in fruit type are comparable to those between good and bad varieties of plums (Prunus domestica L.), and where C. icaco is used commercially obviously there is some selection of the plants in cultivation. At present it seems best to maintain C. icaco as a single polymorphic species. As it is impossible to subdivide this species using information based on herbarium material and ecology alone, experimental cultivation of plants of the different morphological types in controlled environments might suggest a more satisfactory basis for taxonomic status. The two attempts that I have made to examine the chromosomes of C. icaco have also proved unsuccessful, but I hope to make further attempts at a later date.African material of this species seems as variable as the American. Hauman (1951) gave reasons for regarding C. orbicularis as a species separate from C. icaco, but as none of his differences holds true when a large amount of material is studied, I have concluded that C. orbicularis is identical with C. icaco. The African material has been placed into three species C. orbicularis, C. ellipticus and C. atacorensis. The last is probably a distinct species, but C. ellipticus, with elliptic acuminate leaves, merges, both morphologically and geographically, gradually into C. icaco with orbicular retuse leaves. C. ellipticus must be regarded as part of C. icaco, but I have not studied the Africa material in enough detail to determine whether it merits subspecific recognition.Studies on the origin of cultivated plants raise the question of the original province of C. icaco whether its occurrence on both continents is the result of its carriage from one continent to the other during the time of the slave trade. Present evidence strongly suggests that C. icaco is a native of both Africa and America. In America C. icaco has a very wide range for a species which was introduced comparatively recently and is not primarily a cultivated plant. Most of the fruits used are harvested from wild plants in sandy, littoral areas. C. icaco occurs well inland in some of the remotest savannas in the Guianas where it would be hard to argue for its introduction. For example, I have collected it in such a savanna near the Wilhelmina Gebergte of Suriname. Chrysobalanus is long-established in Africa by the distribution of the distinct species, C. atacorensis, through the Congo Basin to Zambia, as well as by the distribution of the more acute-leaved forms of C. icaco which in the past have been named C. ellipticus. Although C. icaco is variable in America, it is just as variable in Africa and grows in natural rather than man-made habitats. The bicontinental distribution of C. icaco and of Parinari excelsa will be discussed in further detail in a separate paper.
The fruit is edible and in Colombia and Venezuela it is cooked, bottled in syrup, and sold commercially.The extreme variation in leaf shape and size, and in fruit size exhibited by this species has led to the various names cited in synonymy. In analyzing this variation carefully, I could find no basis for the recognition of more than one species. There is little correlation among the variable characters, and no obvious grounds exist for the creation of subspecific taxa. Therefore I do not follow Hooker (1867), who divided the New World material of this species into three varieties. In this treatment var pellocarpa, and var ellipticus are not recognized as separate taxa. I have observed C. icaco in the field in Trinidad, Suriname and Brazil. Frequently the different forms grow side by side without any ecological separation, varying principally in the leaf and the fruit. The leaf varies, even on one individual, from an extremely small to a large size, and in shape from orbicular to elliptic. The fruit may be up to 4.5 cm long, or it may be as small as 0.8 mm long. The larger fruits are more conspicuously costate than the smaller ones, and tend to have a thicker more fleshy mesocarp. There is also variation in the pigment of the fruit, the mature fruit may be deep purple or black or it may be yellow. The prefix Chryso (golden) suggests that the material described by Linnaeus was yellow-skinned. The fruit of C. icaco is eaten by man, although only the larger more fleshy fruit make good eating. The differences in fruit type are comparable to those between good and bad varieties of plums (Prunus domestica L.), and where C. icaco is used commercially obviously there is some selection of the plants in cultivation. At present it seems best to maintain C. icaco as a single polymorphic species. As it is impossible to subdivide this species using information based on herbarium material and ecology alone, experimental cultivation of plants of the different morphological types in controlled environments might suggest a more satisfactory basis for taxonomic status. The two attempts that I have made to examine the chromosomes of C. icaco have also proved unsuccessful, but I hope to make further attempts at a later date.African material of this species seems as variable as the American. Hauman (1951) gave reasons for regarding C. orbicularis as a species separate from C. icaco, but as none of his differences holds true when a large amount of material is studied, I have concluded that C. orbicularis is identical with C. icaco. The African material has been placed into three species C. orbicularis, C. ellipticus and C. atacorensis. The last is probably a distinct species, but C. ellipticus, with elliptic acuminate leaves, merges, both morphologically and geographically, gradually into C. icaco with orbicular retuse leaves. C. ellipticus must be regarded as part of C. icaco, but I have not studied the Africa material in enough detail to determine whether it merits subspecific recognition.Studies on the origin of cultivated plants raise the question of the original province of C. icaco whether its occurrence on both continents is the result of its carriage from one continent to the other during the time of the slave trade. Present evidence strongly suggests that C. icaco is a native of both Africa and America. In America C. icaco has a very wide range for a species which was introduced comparatively recently and is not primarily a cultivated plant. Most of the fruits used are harvested from wild plants in sandy, littoral areas. C. icaco occurs well inland in some of the remotest savannas in the Guianas where it would be hard to argue for its introduction. For example, I have collected it in such a savanna near the Wilhelmina Gebergte of Suriname. Chrysobalanus is long-established in Africa by the distribution of the distinct species, C. atacorensis, through the Congo Basin to Zambia, as well as by the distribution of the more acute-leaved forms of C. icaco which in the past have been named C. ellipticus. Although C. icaco is variable in America, it is just as variable in Africa and grows in natural rather than man-made habitats. The bicontinental distribution of C. icaco and of Parinari excelsa will be discussed in further detail in a separate paper.
Distribution:
United States of America North America| Florida United States of America North America| Mexico North America| Tamaulipas Mexico North America| Oaxaca Mexico North America| Tabasco Mexico North America| Chiapas Mexico North America| Campeche Mexico North America| Yucatán Mexico North America| Veracruz Mexico North America| Guatemala Central America| Belize Central America| Honduras Central America| El Salvador Central America| Nicaragua Central America| Costa Rica South America| Panama Central America| Bermuda South America| Cuba South America| Bahamas South America| Cayman Islands South America| Jamaica South America| Dominican Republic South America| Haiti South America| Puerto Rico South America| Virgin Islands South America| Tortola Virgin Islands South America| Saint Thomas Virgin Islands of the United States South America| Saint John Virgin Islands of the United States South America| Saint Croix Virgin Islands of the United States South America| St.Martin-St.Barthélémy South America| Saint Kitts and Nevis South America| St. Jan Virgin Islands South America| Sint Eustatius South America| Antigua and Barbuda South America| Saba South America| Guadeloupe South America| Dominica South America| Martinique South America| Saint Lucia South America| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines South America| Barbados South America| Grenada South America| Colombia South America| San Andrés y Providencia Colombia South America| Magdalena Colombia South America| Atlántico Colombia South America| Bolívar Colombia South America| Norte de Santander Colombia South America| Antioquia Colombia South America| Chocó Colombia South America| Cundinamarca Colombia South America| Valle Colombia South America| Tolima Colombia South America| Huila Colombia South America| Nariño Colombia South America| Venezuela South America| Aragua Venezuela South America| Distrito Federal Venezuela South America| Sucre Venezuela South America| Monagas Venezuela South America| Delta Amacuro Venezuela South America| Táchira Venezuela South America| Bolívar Venezuela South America| Trinidad and Tobago South America| Suriname South America| French Guiana South America| Ecuador South America| Maranhão Brazil South America| Brazil South America| Pará Brazil South America| Ceará Brazil South America| Rio Grande do Norte Brazil South America| Pernambuco Brazil South America| Bahia Brazil South America| Espirito Santo Brazil South America| Guanabara Brazil South America| São Paulo Brazil South America|
United States of America North America| Florida United States of America North America| Mexico North America| Tamaulipas Mexico North America| Oaxaca Mexico North America| Tabasco Mexico North America| Chiapas Mexico North America| Campeche Mexico North America| Yucatán Mexico North America| Veracruz Mexico North America| Guatemala Central America| Belize Central America| Honduras Central America| El Salvador Central America| Nicaragua Central America| Costa Rica South America| Panama Central America| Bermuda South America| Cuba South America| Bahamas South America| Cayman Islands South America| Jamaica South America| Dominican Republic South America| Haiti South America| Puerto Rico South America| Virgin Islands South America| Tortola Virgin Islands South America| Saint Thomas Virgin Islands of the United States South America| Saint John Virgin Islands of the United States South America| Saint Croix Virgin Islands of the United States South America| St.Martin-St.Barthélémy South America| Saint Kitts and Nevis South America| St. Jan Virgin Islands South America| Sint Eustatius South America| Antigua and Barbuda South America| Saba South America| Guadeloupe South America| Dominica South America| Martinique South America| Saint Lucia South America| Saint Vincent and the Grenadines South America| Barbados South America| Grenada South America| Colombia South America| San Andrés y Providencia Colombia South America| Magdalena Colombia South America| Atlántico Colombia South America| Bolívar Colombia South America| Norte de Santander Colombia South America| Antioquia Colombia South America| Chocó Colombia South America| Cundinamarca Colombia South America| Valle Colombia South America| Tolima Colombia South America| Huila Colombia South America| Nariño Colombia South America| Venezuela South America| Aragua Venezuela South America| Distrito Federal Venezuela South America| Sucre Venezuela South America| Monagas Venezuela South America| Delta Amacuro Venezuela South America| Táchira Venezuela South America| Bolívar Venezuela South America| Trinidad and Tobago South America| Suriname South America| French Guiana South America| Ecuador South America| Maranhão Brazil South America| Brazil South America| Pará Brazil South America| Ceará Brazil South America| Rio Grande do Norte Brazil South America| Pernambuco Brazil South America| Bahia Brazil South America| Espirito Santo Brazil South America| Guanabara Brazil South America| São Paulo Brazil South America|
Common Names:
Cocoa Plum, Fat Pork, Icaco, Cacco, Zicaque, Icacillo, Guyana, Caramio, Suriname, Koenatepie, Kodibiassiballii, Koelimiro, Pruim, Koenoto-Epoe, Erejoeroe, Ajurú-branco, Cajurú, Goajurú, Oajurú
Cocoa Plum, Fat Pork, Icaco, Cacco, Zicaque, Icacillo, Guyana, Caramio, Suriname, Koenatepie, Kodibiassiballii, Koelimiro, Pruim, Koenoto-Epoe, Erejoeroe, Ajurú-branco, Cajurú, Goajurú, Oajurú