Sapotaceae
How to identify a mamey sapote tree
Pouteria sapota · also called mamey (Spanish, colloquial)
A football-shaped fruit with rough brown skin around salmon-orange, creamy flesh often likened to sweet potato, pumpkin, and almond. A Latin American favorite, central to the classic mamey milkshake ('batido').
Field marks
These features are typical of the genus Pouteria, so they help confirm you are looking at the right group; the fruit and the details below separate the species.
- Like most of the sapote family, cut twigs and unripe fruit bleed a white latex.
- Leaves are simple and tend to crowd toward the branch tips.
Check a photo
Photograph one whole, mature leaf from above, or a flower or fruit, and the identifier will return ranked matches. If mamey sapote is the top result, the field marks above are your second opinion.
Leaves, flowers, fruit, or bark — closer and sharper identifies better. Your photo is identified and discarded, never stored.
Where and when you will find it
- Origin / cultivation history
- Mesoamerica (southern Mexico / Central America)
- USDA zones
- 10b-11
- Climate
- Tropical, tolerates some drought once mature.
- Fruiting season
- April, May, June and July (typical, Northern Hemisphere)
- How often grown
- Uncommon in cultivation
Fruit is the most reliable way to confirm an identification, so April, May, June and July is the easiest window. Outside it, rely on the leaves and the overall habit. A tree growing well outside the climate above is more likely to be a look-alike.
Growing it: seedling or grafted?
A young tree with no fruit is harder to identify and easy to mislabel, so it helps to know how long it takes to reach fruiting age and how it is usually propagated.
- Years to first fruit
- Seedling 7-10 yrs; grafted 3-5 yrs
- Propagation
- Grafting (cleft, veneer); seed for rootstock.
Relatives in the Sapotaceae family
Close relatives share many features, so these are the most likely mix-ups.
- SapodillaManilkara zapota
- CanistelPouteria campechiana
- AbiuPouteria caimito
- CaimitoChrysophyllum cainito
- LucumaPouteria lucuma
- Miracle fruitSynsepalum dulcificum
Map your mamey sapote trees
CanopyTwin keeps every tree on a map with its species, cultivar, photos and history, and counts flowers and fruit from survey photos. It is built for orchards, nurseries and collectors of tropical and rare fruit.
More identification guides: free plant identifier · tropical fruit tree identifier · fruit tree identifier · all species guides