Caryocar nuciferum
Caryocar nuciferum
Safety & Hazards
None known
Cultivation Details
A plant of the humid, lowland, tropical forests, where it is found at elevations up to 1,000 metres[1, 2]. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 21 - 28°c, but can tolerate 10 - 35°c[2]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 1,600 - 2,000mm, but tolerates 1,200 - 2,400mm[2]. Grows best in a sunny position[2]. Prefers well-drained, light loams of good depth and fertile sandy soils[3, 2]. Dislikes poor soils[3]. Plants are very susceptible to drought[4]. Prefers a pH in the range 6 - 6.5, tolerating 5.5 - 7[2]. Fruits take about 4 months to ripen from flowering[3]. Plants can take up to 20 years to produce their first crop from seed, though this can be greatly reduced by applying shade and wind protection when the plants are young[4].
Propagation
Seed - takes 6 - 12 months to germinate[3]. Grow young plants on in a sheltered position with some shelter from the sun[3]. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Caryocar+nuciferum>
Pollinators
Data unavailable
References
- [1]Perennial Edible Fruits of the Tropics : an Inventory — Martin, F. W.; Campbell, C. W.; Rubertbe, R. M. · U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service · 1987 ↩︎A booklet giving terse details of almost 300 species of edible fruits, plus regional lists of Botanical and Common names for over 2,500 less well-known edible fruits of the tropics.
- [2]Ecocrop — http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/home ↩︎Basic information on a wide range of useful plants, plus details of environmental needs where available.
- [3]Nuts. — Howes. F. N. · Faber · 1948 · ISBN - ↩︎Rather old but still a masterpiece. Has sections on tropical and temperate plants with edible nuts plus a section on nut plants in Britain. Very readable.
- [4]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
- [5]Plant Resources of Southeast Asia — http://proseanet.org/ ↩︎Lots of information on the uses of the plants of SE Asia.
- [6]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
- [7]Annals of the Missouri Botanical Garden Vol. 63 — Missouri Botanical Garden · 1976 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org ↩︎Among many articles on botany, is part of the Flora of Panama. It can be downloaded from the internet.
- [8]Cornucopia II — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications, California. · 1998 · ISBN 0-9628087-2-5 ↩︎The second edition of an excellent guide to the edible uses of plants, though it does not give any details of cultivation etc.
- [9]Medicinal Plants of the Guianas — DeFilipps, R. A.; Maina, S. L.; & Crepin, J. · Smithsonian Museum · http://botany.si.edu/bdg/medicinal/index.html ↩︎A down-loadable PDF document of a book in pre-publication awaiting illustration. An excellent, if rather terse, guide to the traditional medicinal uses of the plants of the region