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Manilkara zapota
Sapotaceae
Rockledge
Florida
USA
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The ancient Maya used to call this Zapotle. Native to the tropical forests of the Yucatán Peninsula, Belize (British Honduras) and northern Guatemala, now it has the following most common names, at the least, in various parts of the world:
zapote
sapota
chicle
chicozapote
chiku
dilly
naseberry
sapodilla
sapodilla plum
Mayan writings talks about "millions" of Zapotle trees at the peak of the Mayan civilization. Even today, Sapodilla is the most abundant tree in the jungles of El Gran Petén, a 3 million hectare lowland tropical forest at the heart of the Mayan world in Mexico’s south-eastern state of Campeche.
Chicle is the milky juice or latex of the Sapodilla tree that was used as the base for all Chewing Gums. It is collected from July through February, during the rainy season, when the latex flows better. With a sharp-edged machete, Chicle collectors make zigzag cuts from the base of the Sapodilla tree trunk up to its first branches. The latex drips down these grooves and is collected in a bag. At present, approximately 5,000 Chicle collectors perfom their arduous, artisanal work each season in the jungles of the Gran Petén.
Although natural Chicle is still being used, most chewing gum companies by the 1960s had switched from using chicle to butadiene-based synthetic rubber for cheaper production costs.
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CULTIVARS OF SAPODILLA AVAILABLE IN THE USA
Alano
Betawi
Brown Sugar
Campechiana
Gonzalez
Hasyá
Makok
Modello
Molix
Morena
Oxkutzcab
Prolific
Russell
Silas Woods
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Note: Another valid Botanical name, depending on the country, is Achras zapota.
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The Sapodilla is so invasive in parts of Florida that it had made the following list;
Florida Exotic Pest Plant Council's 2007 List of Invasive Plant Species
www.fleppc.org/eddmaps/florida.cfm
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