Pouteria campechiana

Pouteria campechiana
Canistel
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
(unranked): Angiosperms
(unranked): Eudicots
(unranked): Asterids
Order: Ericales
Family: Sapotaceae
Genus: Pouteria
Species: P. campechiana
Binomial name
Pouteria campechiana
Baehni
Synonyms
Lucuma campechiana
Knuth
Two sliced Pouteria campechiana fruits.

The canistel (Pouteria campechiana) is an evergreen tree native to southern Mexico and Central America.[1] It is cultivated in other countries, such as Brazil, Taiwan, and Vietnam for its fruit.

The canistel grows up to 10 meters (33 ft) high, and produces orange-yellow fruit, also called yellow sapote, up to 7 centimeters (2.8 in) long, which are edible raw. Canistel flesh is sweet, with a texture often compared to that of a cooked egg yolk, hence its colloquial name of "eggfruit." It is closely related to the Mamey sapote and abiu.

Etymology

Its binomial name is derived from the Mexican town of Campeche, where it is native. It is sometimes (wrongly) referred to as Lucuma campechiana. In the Philippines it is called chesa. In Sri Lanka this fruit is known as Laulu, Lavulu or Lawalu.[2] In Thailand it is known as Lamut Khamen, meaning "Khmer Sapodilla".

The plant's name in the Vietnamese language is cây trứng gà (“chicken egg” plant) because of the fruit's appearance. It also has the Vietnamese name lekima. This is very unusual because Vietnamese is a tonal, isolating language whose morphemes all consist of a single syllable. It appears that this name derives from the word lucuma. The unusual name "Lekima" has been included in the list of typhoon names, and was applied to a storm that devastated north-central Vietnam and killed from 42 to 55 people in Vietnam on 10 March 2007.[3]

References

  1. ^ "Pouteria campechiana". Germplasm Resources Information Network. United States Department of Agriculture. http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/taxon.pl?102607. Retrieved 2009-01-29. 
  2. ^ D.K.N.G. Pushpakumara (2007). "Lavulu". Underutilized fruit trees in Sri Lanka. World Agroforestry Centre, South Asia Office, New Delhi, India. http://www.worldagroforestry.org/downloads/publications/PDFs/BC07321.PDF. 
  3. ^ "Typhoon Lekima pounds central Vietnam". TerraDaily. October 4, 2007. http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Typhoon_Lekima_pounds_central_Vietnam_999.html. Retrieved 2010-09-24. 

External links


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