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CASIMIROA EDULIS - White Sapote, Sapote, Zapote blanco, Casimiroa |
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A medium sized tree from Mexico and Central American highlands, it is a member of the Rutaceae family, which contains the citrus. Although listed as an evergreen, it drops a number of leaves during the dormant or winter period. The flowers are small and green/white in short clusters in the axils of mature leaves or on leaf shoots. The 3-4" fruit has a thin green-to-yellow skin and soft, creamy-colored, very sweet pulp surrounding 2-5 seeds. The tree may have two crops a year, grows well in Southern California and Florida (freezes at about 26 degrees F). Propagated by seeds (7-8 years for fruiting), grafted or airlayered.
Related Species: Woolly-leaf Sapote, Yellow Sapote (C. tetrameria Millsp.). Matasano, (C. Sapote Oerst.), C. pringlei.
Distant affinity: Citrus, Bael Fruit (Aegle marmelos Correa), Wampi (Clausena lansium Skeels), Wood-apple (Feronia limonia Swingle)
Origin: The white sapote is native to central Mexico. The wooly-leaf sapote is native from Yucatan to Costa Rica.
Adaptation: The white sapote is successful wherever oranges can be grown. In California mature trees are found from Chico, southward. It does poorly in areas with high summer heat such as the deserts of the Southwest, and in the high humidity of the tropical lowlands of Hawaii and Florida. Otherwise, it can take a lot of abuse, but is brittle in wind. Established trees withstand occasional frost to 22 degrees F, although young trees can be damaged at 30 degrees F. The tree does best where the mean temperature from April to October is about 6 degrees F. White sapotes are also tolerant of cold wet roots and north sides of buildings. Wooly-leaf sapotes are somewhat less hardy than the common white sapote. Only grafted trees are suitable for containers; seedlings get large fast.
DESCRIPTION
Growth Habit: The white sapote forms a medium to very large evergreen tree, 15 to 50 feet, according to cultivar and soil. It is deciduous under drought and other stress. The tree casts a dense shade. Growth is rapid, in flushes. It is densely branching, drooping at maturity. Young trees tend toward a single, limber stem for first 2 years often requiring staking. White sapotes have a taproot and other fibrous roots that are wandering and greedy like citrus.
Foliage: The white sapote has glossy, bright green, palmately compound, hand-shaped leaves with 5 - 6 inch leaflets on a long petiole. New growth is usually reddish, becoming dark green with age, pale green beneath. Stress such as either prolonged cold or abnormal heat, will cause defoliation and a subsequent new growth flush. Leaves will burn in hot winds, which may also scar the fruit or cause it to drop.
Flowers: The odorless flowers, small and greenish-yellow, are 4- or 5-parted, and born in terminal and axillary panicles. They are hermaphrodite and occasionally unisexual because of aborted stigmas. They follow growth flush and often rebloom again several months later. The flowers are attractive to bees, hoverflies and ants. The pollination tendencies or requirements of various cultivars have not yet been fully determined.
Fruit: White sapote fruit ripens six to nine months from bloom. Some cultivars are alternate bearing. Fruit size varies from 1 inch to 6 inches for some of the newer cultivars. Fruit color ranges from apple-green to orange-yellow at maturity, according to cultivar. The fruit shape is round, oval or ovoid, symmetrical or irregular. The skin is very thin and smooth, with a waxy bloom, and is sometimes bitter. Green-skinned varieties have white flesh; yellow skinned varieties have yellow flesh. The flesh has a custard-like texture and a sweet delicious flavor reminiscent of peach or banana, although sometimes with a hint of bitterness. The fruit becomes pungent and unpleasant if overripe. In California the flesh of the wooly-leaf sapote is often bitter and unpleasant. The fruit contains 5 - 7 short-lived seeds thaat resemble a greatly enlarged orange seed. They range in size from 1 - 2 inches in length. The fruits also usually contain several aborted, thin, papery seeds. White sapotes bear within 10 years from seed, or 2 - 8 years from graft.
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