PlantPeers
Back to Catalog
Mammea americana
Clusiaceae FAMILY

Mammea americana

Mammea americana

Edibility
4/5
Medicinal
2/5

Safety & Hazards

The bitter tasting seeds in the fruit are poisonous to fish, chicks and some insects[1].

Cultivation Details

HabitEvergreen Tree
GrowthMedium

Mammee apple is limited to tropical or near tropical moist to wet climates[2]. It grows best in the lowlands, but can succeed at elevations up to 1,000 metres[2]. It grows best in areas where annual daytime temperatures are within the range 24 - 30°c, but can tolerate 12 - 35°c[3]. When dormant, the plant can survive temperatures down to about -2°c, but young growth can be severely damaged at 0°c[3]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 1,200 - 1,800mm, but tolerates 800 - 2,600mm[3]. Prefers a position in full sun or light shade[4]. Prefers a deep, rich, well-drained sandy loam[1]. Prefers a pH in the range 6 - 6.5, tolerating 5.5 - 8[3]. Trees can produce their first crop in 6 - 10 years from seed[1]. Good trees can produce 300 - 400 fruits per year[3]. There are some named varieties[5]. One report says that the plant is dioecious[6], others that it is monoecious. In some forms of this plant, the flowers produced are predominantly female and the tree fruits heavily, in other forms there can be a predominance of male flowers and fruit yields are much lower[1].

Propagation

Seeds are the usual means of propagation and they germinate in 1 - 4 months with a 97% rate. Seeds sprout readily in leaf-mulch under the tree. Grown under light shade, seedlings reach 40 - 50cm and are ready to out-plant 3 - 5 months after sowing.[2]. Greenwood cuttings with bottom heat. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Mammea+americana>

Pollinators

Data unavailable

References

  1. [1]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.
  2. [2]World Agroforesty Centre — http://www.worldagroforestry.org/ ↩︎An excellent online database of a huge range of trees giving very good information on each plant - its uses, ecology, identity, propagation, pests etc.
  3. [3]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.
  4. [4]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.
  5. [5]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.
  6. [6]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.
  7. [7]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.
  8. [8]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
  9. [9]Common Trees of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands — Little E.L.; Wadsworth F.H. · USDA, Forest Service; Washington. · 1964 ↩︎Contains detailed information, and usually an illustration, on 250 tree species, including both native and exotic species.