Manilkara zapota

Non-Native to Florida

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The huge sapodilla tree provides much shade, and is prized by some, but it is a non-native on the Florida EPPC List #1. It is occasionally found in hammocks and disturbed sites of Lee and Palm Beach Counties (Wunderlin, 2003). It is native to Central America.

Appearance: Evergreen tree to about 20 m (66 ft) high with stout trunk. Branchlets brownish-hairy.

Leaves: Alternate and often crowded at end of branchlets; young leaves are downy and brownish beneath.

Flowers: White on long stalks from leaf axils, tubular; tube up to 5 mm (0.2 in) long, 6-lobed.

Fruit: Brown with rough skin, up to 8 cm (3 in) across; brownish, mealy pulp; containing hard black seeds.

Ecological threat: FLEPPC Category I – Invasive exotics that are altering native plant communities by displacing native species, changing community structures or ecological functions, or hybridizing with natives.

Distribution: SW, SE

Text from Invasive and Non-Native Plants You Should Know, Recognition Cards, by A. Richard and V. Ramey, 2007. UF/IFAS Center for Aquatic and Invasive Plants, Publ. No. SP 431.

Download the Recognition Card (PDF 938 KB).

 

See the UF/IFAS Assessment, which lists plants according to their invasive status in Florida.

View the herbarium specimen image of the University of Florida Herbarium Digital Imaging Projects.