Pouteria is a genus of flowering trees in the gutta-percha family, Sapotaceae. The genus is widespread throughout the tropical Americas, with outlier species in Cameroon and Malesia. It includes the green sapote (P. viridis), the mamey sapote (P. sapota), and the abiu (P. caimito). Commonly, this genus is known as pouteria trees.
Pouteria is related to Manilkara, another genus that produces hard and heavy woods (e.g. balatá, M. bidentata) used commonly for tropical construction, as well as edible fruit (such as sapodilla, M. zapota).
Range Pouteria, as currently delineated, has 170 species in the tropical Americas, from Mexico to northern Argentina and central Chile, including Florida and the Caribbean islands. Four species are found outside the Americas. Pouteria hexastemon is native to Cameroon in west-central Africa, and three species are native to Indonesia – Pouteria celebica to Sulawesi, Pouteria lucida to Maluku, and Pouteria oxyedra to Sumatra.
Uses
Many species, such as Pouteria sapota, have edible fruits and are important foods, seasonally. Some are being commercially collected and sold on local markets or packed in cans.
Pouteria species yield hard, heavy, resilient woods used as firewood and timber, but particularly in outdoor and naval construction, such as dock pilings, deckings, etc. Some species, such as abiu (P. caimito), are considered to be shipworm resistant, but this depends on the silica content, which may vary from 0.0-0.9%. The weight by volume (at 12% moisture content) of Pouteria wood can be in excess of 1140 kg/m3 (71 lb/ft3; thus, the wood sinks in water. The wood of Pouteria species is prone to considerable movement and warping when it dries out, but in its main use, naval construction, this is not a problem, since the wood never gets really dry.
The vessel elements are relatively small and usually di- to quadriseriate; the medullary rays are fine and close together. Pouteria woods are capable of attaining an excellent polish using fine-grained sandpaper and possibly some wax. They can sometimes show an attractive figure of dark stripes against a sandy to mid-brown background colour. However, the wood is hardly used for furniture because it is so dense that items made from it would be difficult to transport. Moreover, it is nearly impossible to work using hand tools. Even using power tools, working these woods presents some problems, as well, but given some patience and practical knowledge, these can easily be solved.
For the silica to be effective against shipworms, it needs to dry to some degree to harden. When the wood is continually waterlogged, this process may take place very slowly or not at all, leaving the wood vulnerable.
Pouteria foliage is used as food by some Lepidoptera caterpillars, including those of the dalcerid moth Dalcera abrasa, which has been recorded on P. ramiflora. The fruits are important food for various animals, such as the rock-haunting ringtail possum (Petropseudes dahli).
Due to habitat loss and in some cases overexploitation, many species of Pouteria are threatened. At least 10 are close to extinction.
Systematics and taxonomy
Pouteria is a "wastebasket taxon", and its size is continually being expanded or decreased. The segregated Labatia, described by Olof Swartz in 1788 and named after the French botanist Jean-Baptiste Labat, was maintained as a distinct entity until the 1930s, when it was synonymized with Pouteria. Most segregated genera that were merged with Pouteria again were established by Henri Ernest Baillon and Jean Baptiste Louis Pierre.USDA (2009)
Recent phylogenetic and morphological studies found Pouteria to be polyphyletic, and many genera previously subsumed into Pouteria and/or Chrysophyllum, including Achrouteria, Chloroluma, Cornuella, Englerella, Labatia, Lucuma, Martiusella, Nemaluma, Peteniodendron, Prieurella, and Ragala, have been reinstated.
Accepted species Plants of the World Online currently accepts 170 species.
Pouteria alvesii Alves-Araújo – Brazil (Pernambuco and Bahia) Pouteria amapaensis – Brazil (Amapá) Pouteria amazonica – Brazil (Amazonas) Pouteria ambelaniifolia – Venezuela, Guyana, French Guiana, and northern Brazil Pouteria amygdalicarpa – Nicaragua to Venezuela and Ecuador Pouteria amygdalina – southeastern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and Costa Rica Pouteria andarahiensis – Brazil (Bahia) Pouteria anteridata – Venezuela Pouteria arcuata – southeastern Colombia and Venezuela (Amazonas) Pouteria areolatifolia – Guatemala (Petén) Pouteria aristata – Cuba Pouteria atabapoensis – Venezuela (Amazonas) and Brazil (Amazonas) Pouteria atlantica – Brazil (southeastern Bahia) Pouteria aubrevillei – northern Brazil, French Guiana, Colombia, and Peru Pouteria aurea – Ecuador Pouteria austin-smithii – Costa Rica and Panama Pouteria baehniana – Venezuela to Bolivia Pouteria bangii – northern South America Pouteria bapeba – Brazil (southeastern Bahia to northern Espírito Santo) Pouteria belizensis – Mexico (Veracruz, Tabasco, Chiapas) to Nicaragua Pouteria benai – French Guiana Pouteria bilocularis – northern South America Pouteria bonneriana – Peru (Loreto) Pouteria bracteata – Nicaragua to western Ecuador Pouteria brevensis – Brazil (Pará) Pouteria brevipetiolata – Ecuador Pouteria briocheoides – Mexico (Chiapas) and Guatemala Pouteria buenaventurensis – Panama to Ecuador Pouteria bullata – Brazil (Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, and Paraná) Pouteria butyrocarpa – Brazil (southeastern Bahia to Espírito Santo) Pouteria caimito – abiu – Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, northern South America, and Trinidad and Tobago Pouteria calistophylla – Costa Rica and Panama Pouteria campanulata – Brazil (Amazonas and Pará) Pouteria canaimaensis – Venezuela (Bolívar) Pouteria cayennensis – southeastern Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, French Guiana, and northern Brazil Pouteria celebica Erlee – Sulawesi Pouteria chiricana – Costa Rica and Panama Pouteria chocoensis – western Colombia Pouteria cicatricata – Brazil (Amazonas and Rondônia) Pouteria cinnamomea – Peru (Cusco) Pouteria citriodora – Brazil (Bahia) Pouteria cladantha – tropical South America Pouteria coelomatica – Brazil (southeastern Bahia to Rio de Janeiro) Pouteria collina – Colombia and northern Ecuador Pouteria condorensis – Ecuador Pouteria cordiformis – Ecuador Pouteria coriacea – Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Trinidad, the Guianas, and northern Brazil Pouteria crassiflora – Venezuela (Amazonas) and Brazil (Amapá and Pará) Pouteria cubensis – Cuba (Sierra Maestra) Pouteria cuspidata – Costa Rica to Bolivia and southeastern Brazil Pouteria decorticans – northwestern Venezuela, northern Brazil, and French Guiana Pouteria decussata – Brazil (Pará) Pouteria deliciosa – French Guiana, Colombia, and Peru Pouteria dictyoneura Pouteria egregia – Colombia and northeastern Brazil Pouteria elegans – Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, northern Brazil, Peru, and Bolivia Pouteria engleri – Colombia, Venezuela, the Guianas, and northern Brazil Pouteria ephedrantha – southeast Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil (Acre) Pouteria ericoides – Brazil (Amazonas: near Manaus) Pouteria erythrochrysa – Brazil (Amazonas: near Manaus) Pouteria espinae – Colombia Pouteria eugeniifolia – Colombia, Venezuela, the Guianas, and northern Brazil Pouteria euryphylla – Panama Pouteria exfoliata – Costa Rica and Panama Pouteria exstaminodia – Brazil (Amazonas) Pouteria filiformis – Costa Rica Pouteria fossicola – Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama Pouteria foveolata – Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama Pouteria fragrans – Paraguay and northeastern Argentina Pouteria franciscana – northern and northeastern Bolivia, northern Brazil, and northeastern Brazil (southeastern Bahia) Pouteria freitasii – Brazil (Amazonas: near Manaus) Pouteria fulva – Brazil (Amazonas) Pouteria furcata – northeastern Brazil (Maranhão and Piauí) Pouteria gabrielensis – southeastern Colombia, Venezuela, and northern Brazil Pouteria gallifructa – Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and Costa Rica; northeastern Brazil Pouteria gardneri – Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay Pouteria gigantea – Ecuador Pouteria glauca – Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, northern and northeastern Brazil, French Guiana, and Suriname Pouteria glomerata – Mexico to northeastern Argentina Pouteria glomerata subsp. stylosa – Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, and northern Brazil Pouteria gomphiifolia – Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, and northern Brazil Pouteria gongrijpii – Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, northern and northeastern Brazil, French Guiana, and Suriname Pouteria gracilis – Peru (San Martín) Pouteria guianensis Aubl. – Panama, northern South America, and Trinidad Pouteria hexastemon Baehni – Cameroon Pouteria hotteana – Haiti and Puerto Rico Pouteria izabalensis – Mexico (Chiapas) to Costa Rica Pouteria juruana – Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and northern Brazil Pouteria kaieteurensis – Guyana (Kaieteur Plateau) Pouteria krukovii – Colombia, Brazil (Acre), and Peru (Loreto) Pouteria latianthera – Venezuela (Amazonas) and Brazil (Amapá) Pouteria leptopedicellata – Costa Rica to Ecuador Pouteria longifolia – Peru (San Martín) and Bolivia (La Paz) Pouteria lucens – Brazil (Amazonas) Pouteria lucida (H.J.Lam) Baehni – Maluku Pouteria lucumifolia – Colombia, Venezuela, northern Brazil, Ecuador, Peru Pouteria macahensis – northeastern and eastern Brazil (Pernambuco to Rio de Janeiro) Pouteria macrocarpa – Colombia, northern Brazil, and southeastern Brazil Pouteria macrophylla – Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, northern, central, and eastern Brazil, Suriname and French Guiana Pouteria maguirei – southeast Colombia, Venezuela (Amazonas), and northwestern Brazil Pouteria mattogrossensis – Brazil (Mato Grosso) Pouteria megaphylla – Ecuador Pouteria melanopoda – Suriname and French Guiana Pouteria micrantha – eastern Cuba (Lomas de Cuaba and Sierra de Nipe) Pouteria microstrigosa – eastern Brazil (southeastern Bahia, Espírito Santo, and Minas Gerais) Pouteria minima – Venezuela (Bolívar) and Brazil (northwestern Amazonas) Pouteria mongaguensis – Brazil (São Paulo) Pouteria nemorosa – eastern Bolivia Pouteria nudipetala – southeastern Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and northern Brazil Pouteria oblanceolata – Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela, French Guiana, and northern and northeastern Brazil Pouteria obscura – Brazil (Pará) Pouteria opposita – Peru and northern Brazil Pouteria orinocoensis – central and southern Venezuela Pouteria oxyedra (Miq.) Baehni – Sumatra Pouteria pachyphylla – northern Brazil (Amazonas and Rondônia) Pouteria pallida – Leeward Islands, Windward Islands, Trinidad and Tobago Pouteria penicillata – Guyan Pouteria pentamera – Brazil (Amazonas: near Manaus) Pouteria peruviensis – Peru (Loreto) Pouteria pimichinensis – Colombia (Guainía) and Venezuela (southeastern Amazonas) Pouteria pisquiensis – Peru (Ucayali) Pouteria platyphylla – northern and west-central Brazil (Amazonas and Mato Grosso), Ecuador, and Peru (Loreto) Pouteria plicata – Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Bolivia, and northern, northeastern, and west-central Brazil Pouteria polycarpa – Bolivia Pouteria polysepala – Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and northern Brazil Pouteria procera – Colombia, Peru, Bolivia, Venezuela, and northern and eastern Brazil Pouteria puberula – Venezuela (Miranda) Pouteria pubescens – southeastern Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and northern Brazil Pouteria pullei – Suriname Pouteria putamen-ovi – southern Colombia, northern Peru, and northern Brazil Pouteria quicheana – Guatemala Pouteria ramiflora (Mart.) Radlk. – Brazil, Bolivia, and Paraguay Pouteria resinosa – northern Brazil (Amazonas: near Manaus) Pouteria reticulata – southern Mexico, Central America, and northern South America Pouteria retinervis – southeastern Colombia, northern Brazil, and French Guiana