Mimusops maxima
(Poir.) R. E. Vaughan
(c) Flavien Saboureau, some rights reserved (CC BY)
(c) Ulf Swenson, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
(c) Jean-Philippe BASUYAUX, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)
What to Eat
Edible parts: Fruit
The fruit is eaten.
Where to Find It
A tropical plant. It grows in humid lowland forest in Reunion. It grows from 700-1,100 m altitude.
Africa, Bourbon, Reunion, Mauritius,
How to Identify
A medium sized tree. It grows 20 m tall. The bark is rough and cracked. The ends of the branches are thick. The leaves are arranged in spirals or in tufts at the ends of branches. They are simple, entire and dark green. The leaves blade is narrowly oval and 7-13 cm long by 3-8 cm wide. They are wedge shaped at the base and rounded at the tip. The flowers are in 1-3 tufts in the leaf axils. They contain both sexes. They are reddish-brown. The fruit is round or pear shaped and 5-7 cm across. They are bright green and contain 1-7 seeds. The seeds are flattened.
How to Grow
Plants are grown from seed. The fruit are allowed to partly rot then the seeds are removed. Seeds germinate over 2-3 months. Scratching the round end of the seed helps them grow more quickly. Seedlings can be put in a nursery and then transplanted after 8-9 months.
Names & Synonyms
References (3)
- Hedrick, U.P., 1919, (Ed.), Sturtevant's edible plants of the world. p 355
- Lemmens, R.H.M.J., 2005. Mimusops maxima (Poir.) R.E.Vaughan. [Internet] Record from Protabase. Louppe, D., Oteng-Amoako, A.A. & Brink, M. (Editors). PROTA (Plant Resources of Tropical Africa), Wageningen, Netherlands. < http://database.prota.org/search.htm>. Accessed 19 October 2009.
- Maurit. Inst. Bull. 1(1):56. 1937
