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Lecythis zabucajo
Lecythidaceae FAMILY

Lecythis zabucajo

Lecythis zabucajo

Edibility
3/5
Medicinal
1/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitDeciduous Tree
GrowthMedium

A plant of the hot, humid, lowland tropics[1]. Probably not very fussy as to soil type[2]. Prefers a deep, rich, fertile, moisture-retentive soil[3]. Prefers a sunny position[2, 3]. Unlike the related Brazil nut, which only produces its seeds towards the top of the tree, this species can fruit right down to the lower branches[2]. It has been estimated that individual trees could produce about 80 kilos of seeds per year[2]. The seeds take 18 months to mature after flowering[4]. The fruits, which are suspended from the ends of branches, develop a perfectly fitting 'lid', which drops off as the nuts ripen, thus scattering the seeds[2, 4]. These fruits have been used as monkey traps. A bait is placed inside the empty fruit, which the monkey puts its hand inside to grab and then finds it cannot withdraw its hand (unless it releases the bait of course)[4].

Propagation

Seed - it only has a short period of viability so should be sown as soon as it is ripe[2]. Trees have been known to produce their first crop in less than ten years from seed[2]. Cuttings of half-ripe wood[3]. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Lecythis+zabucajo>

Pollinators

Bees, insects

References

  1. [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. [2]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.
  3. [3]Tropical and Subtropical Trees - A Worldwide Encyclopaedic Guide. — Barwick. M. · Thames & Hudson, London · 2004 · ISBN 0-500-51181-0 ↩︎A superb book, very concise and well written, giving a wealth of information on 400 or more species including descriptions, habitat, cultivation details and plant uses. A wealth of colour photographs bring each plant vividly to life.
  4. [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. [5]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.
  6. [6]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.
  7. [7]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
  8. [8]Tropical Timbers of the World. Ag. Handbook No. 607. — Chudnoff. Martin. · USDA Forest Service. Wisconsin. · 1984 ↩︎Terse details on the properties of the wood of almost 400 species of trees from the Tropics.