Manilkara chicle (Pittier) Gilly
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Authority
Pennington, Terence D. 1990. Sapotaceae. Fl. Neotrop. Monogr. 52: 1-750. (Published by NYBG Press)
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Family
Sapotaceae
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Scientific Name
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Synonyms
Achras chicle Pittier, Achras calcicola Pittier, Manilkara calcicola (Pittier) Gilly, Manilkara calcicola var. colombiana Gilly, Mopania chicle (Pittier) Lundell, Mopania calcicola (Pittier) Lundell
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Description
Species Description - Tree; young shoots slightly scurfy or glabrous, greyish-brown or buff, becoming rough and fissured, lenticellate. Stipules absent. Leaves 6-20 × 2-7.3 cm, usually oblanceolate, less frequently elliptic, apex obtuse, acute or shortly narrowly attenuate, base acute, narrowly cuneate or attenuate, glabrous above, lower surface minutely appressed puberulous forming a pellicle or subglabrous, subcoriaceous; midrib sunken on the upper surface; secondaries 15-25 pairs, rarely forming a distinct submarginal vein, higher order venation obscure. Petiole 1-2.2(-2.5) cm long, not or only slightly channelled, glabrous or slightly scurfy. Flowers 2-5 in a fascicle. Pedicel 0.6-1.7 cm long, scurfy appressed puberulous. Sepals 6.5-8.5 mm long, lanceolate, acute, inner whorl rounded, scurfy appressed puberulous outside, appressed puberulous near the margin inside. Corolla glabrous, 5.5-7.5 mm long, tube ca. 2 mm long, lobes six, lanceolate, apex acute to rounded, margin subentire. Stamens six, glabrous; filaments 3-4 mm long, straight, free or shortly fused to the staminodes; anthers 2-2.5 mm long, lanceolate-sagittate. Staminodes six, glabrous, 3-4 mm long, oblong or lanceolate, apex often laciniate or erose. Ovary ovoid or with a truncate apex, 8-10-locular, appressed puberulous; style 5-6.5 mm long after anthesis, glabrous. Fruit 2.5-3.5 × 2.5-4.8 cm, globose or depressed globose, apex rounded to flat or slightly hollowed, base rounded, rough-skinned and scaly. Seeds 2-5, 1.5-2.5 cm long, strongly laterally compressed, with a hard smooth shining testa 0.5-1.5 mm thick; scar basi-ventral, 0.9-1.1 cm long, 1-3 mm broad. The flowers are pale creamish-white, nocturnal and probably bat-pollinated (data from Bawa 214, Stone 3183, from Costa Rica). The mature fruit is rough-skinned and pale brown, and the cut surface exudes plentiful white latex. A tree to 25(-35) m high, larger specimens with short broad buttresses to 0.5 m high, and a cylindrical bole. The bark is dark grey to almost black, deeply fissured and grid-cracked, the slash pink to red, exuding copious sticky white latex. Trees in open situations develop a broad dense dark green crown.
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Discussion
There are a few records of this tree being tapped for chicle in Nicaragua and Costa Rica, and in N Colombia the latex has been used to adulterate balata (data from Dawe 868). The timber is of some local importance (Mexico: Veracruz), and like most other species of the genus, the fruit is edible, though of inferior quality compared with that of M. zapota.
Phenology: In habitats subject to a seasonal climate this species sheds its leaves for a short period prior to flowering (Frankie et al. 1974: 895 (as Achras zapota); Hartshorn in Janzen, 1983: 276). Elsewhere, in wetter situations, it is evergreen. Flowering occurs in the early part of the rainy season from Mar to Jun and mature fruits are found between Nov and May.
Distribution and Ecology: From S Mexico (Pacific and Caribbean drainages) throughout Central America to Panama and N Colombia. Manilkara chicle is most commonly round in semi-evergreen or semi-deciduous seasonal forests, but it also extends into lowland tropical rainforest (selva alta perennifolia) especially at the southern end of its range in Costa Rica, Panama and Colombia. Its altitudinal range is from sea level to ca. 750 m. The species is particularly common on the drier Pacific drainage of Central America where it becomes an important and conspicuous component of, and one of the largest trees in, semideciduous forest (selva mediana subcaducifolia) often on limestone.
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Common Names
chicle, chicle macho, chico zapote, Chiquihui, male sapodilla, muy, níspero, níspero de montaña, níspero de monte, oreja de burro, sapodilla macho
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Objects
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Distribution
Mexico North America| Chiapas Mexico North America| Oaxaca Mexico North America| Puebla Mexico North America| Veracruz Mexico North America| Guatemala Central America| Izabal Guatemala Central America| Petén Guatemala Central America| Belize Central America| Stann Creek Belize Central America| Toledo Belize Central America| Honduras Central America| El Salvador Central America| Sonsonate El Salvador Central America| Nicaragua Central America| Carazo Nicaragua Central America| Estelí Nicaragua Central America| Granada Nicaragua Central America| Matagalpa Nicaragua Central America| Rivas Nicaragua Central America| Zelaya Nicaragua Central America| Costa Rica South America| Cartago Costa Rica Central America| Guanacaste Costa Rica Central America| Limón Costa Rica Central America| San José Costa Rica Central America| Canal Zone Panamá Central America| Panama Central America| Coclé Panamá Central America| San Blás Panama Central America| Colombia South America| Atlántico Colombia South America| Chocó Colombia South America|