Yellow Mombin, Hog Plum, Caja Fruit, Taperebá
Latin Name: Spondias mombin
USDA Hardiness: 10-12
Native Range: NORTHERN AMERICA: Mexico, Durango, San Luis Potosí, Sinaloa, Tamaulipas, Baja California Sur, Campeche, Chiapas, Colima, Guanajuato, Guerrero, Hidalgo, Jalisco, México, Michoacán de Ocampo, Morelos, Nayarit, Oaxaca, Puebla, Querétaro, Quintana Roo, Tabasco, Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, Yucatán, SOUTHERN AMERICA: Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, El Salvador, Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela, Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Paraguay,
Edibility Rating: 4 / 5
Medicinal Rating: 2 / 5
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Plant Type:
Medicinal Uses
Edible Uses
Edible Parts: Fruit Leaves Root Sap Seed Shoots | Edible Uses: Drink TeaFruit - raw or cooked. Pleasantly acid, the fleshy fruit is eaten raw or cooked with sugar[301 ]. It is also used for making jams, ice cream etc[301 ]. Juices improve with keeping overnight as the mild astringency of the fresh fruit disappears[303 ]. Unripe fruits are pickled and used like olives[301 ]. The dull light orange to yellow or brown ovoid fruit is 30 - 40mm long and 20 - 25mm in diameter[303 ]. There is great variation in fruit quality from region to region, some being sweet and pleasant and others quite disagreeable in flavour[303 ]. Young leaves - cooked and used as a vegetable[301 ]. The shoot tastes like cassava and can be eaten raw or boiled[303 ]. The seeds can be eaten[303 ]. When fresh water is unavailable, water from the roots of this tree can be drunk[303 ]. The sap from the roots has been drunk in place of water when the latter was not available[303 ].
Cultivation
The plant grows best in the subhumid and frost-free tropics, where it can be found at elevations up to 1,000 metres[200 , 303 ]. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 21 - 27°c, but can tolerate 13 - 35°c[418 ]. The plant is severely damaged by frost[303 ]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 1,000 - 2,000mm, but tolerates 600 - 2,800mm[418 ]. It can succeed in areas with widely distributed rainfall, or with a marked dry season[335 ]. Requires a sunny position[418 ]. Prefers a medium to heavy, well-drained, fertile soil[418 ]. Plants are not too fussy over soil, not needing very fertile conditions[200 ]. However, very poor soil, or shallow land, is unsuitable[200 ]. Prefers a pH in the range 5.5 - 6.5, tolerating 4.3 - 8[418 ]. A fast-growing tree, easily reaching a height of 3.5 metres within 2 years from seed[419 ]. Fruiting usually starts when seedling trees are about 5 years of age, although well-kept cuttings may start fruiting earlier[303 , 335 ]. Some ripe fruit can be found on the tree during most of the year[303 ]. Plants produce a deep taproot when young and also have a shallower root system near the surface when older[303 ]. Flowering Time: Late Winter/Early Spring Mid Spring Late Spring/Early Summer. Bloom Color: White/Near White Cream/Tan.
Known Hazards
None known
Habitats
Occurs in a great variety of humid tropical climates, often in secondary vegetation derived from evergreen lowland forest or semi-deciduous forest[303 ].