Sapotaceae

Thesaurus

Noun

Sapotaceae - tropical trees or shrubs with milky juice and often edible fleshy fruitfamily Sapotaceae, sapodilla familydicot family, magnoliopsid family - family of flowering plants having two cotyledons (embryonic leaves) in the seed which usually appear at germinationEbenales, order Ebenales - trees or shrubs of the families Ebenaceae or Sapotaceae or Styracaceae or SymplocaceaeAchras, genus Achras - tropical trees having papery leaves and large fruitBumelia, genus Bumelia - deciduous or evergreen American shrubs small trees having very hard wood and milky latexCalocarpum, genus Calocarpum - a genus of tropical American trees of the family SapotaceaeChrysophyllum, genus Chrysophyllum - tropical American evergreen trees or shrubsgenus Manilkara, Manilkara - genus of large evergreen trees with milky latex; pantropicalgenus Palaquium, Palaquium - large genus of Malaysian trees with milky juice and leathery leavesgenus Payena, Payena - genus of medium to large Malaysian trees yielding gutta-perchagenus Pouteria, Pouteria - tropical American timber tree with edible fruit (canistel)

Sapotaceae

[‚sap·ə′tās·ē‚ē] (botany) A family of dicotyledonous plants in the order Ebenales characterized by a well-developed latex system.

Sapotaceae

(sapodilla), a family of dicotyledonous plants including mostly evergreen trees and shrubs. The leaves are usually alternate, entire, and leathery. The generally small flowers are regular and most often bisexual; they are solitary or fascicled. There are four, five, or eight sepals in two whorls or only five sepals in one whorl; the sepals are usually slightly fused at the base. The petals, which are concresced below, alternate with the sepals and sometimes form two whorls. The fruit—a berry—is leathery and dehiscent in some species. The sapodilla family is characterized by the presence of latex vessels in the bark, phloem, medulla, leaves, and fruits. Cauliflory is observed in many species.

There are about 60 genera of sapodilla, embracing 800 species and distributed mainly in the tropics of both hemispheres. In the USSR only fossil forms are known. Species containing gutta-percha (genera Palaquim and Payena) and balata (Mimusops bidentata, or M. balata) have great practical significance. The fruits of many species, including those of the genera Achras and Lucuma, are edible, as are the fleshy corollas of Madhuca logifolia, which contain up to 60 percent sugar. The seeds of some species, such as those of the genera Butyrospermum, Mimusops, and Argania, yield cooking and industrial oils. Many species, including Argania sideroxylon, are the source of valuable lumber.

M. E. KIRPICHNIKOV

Sapotaceae

Related to Sapotaceae: Sapindaceae, Moraceae

noun

Synonyms for Sapotaceae

noun tropical trees or shrubs with milky juice and often edible fleshy fruit

Synonyms

family Sapotaceae
sapodilla family

Related Words

dicot family
magnoliopsid family
Ebenales
order Ebenales
Achras
genus Achras
Bumelia
genus Bumelia
Calocarpum
genus Calocarpum
Chrysophyllum
genus Chrysophyllum
genus Manilkara
Manilkara
genus Palaquium
Palaquium
genus Payena
Payena
genus Pouteria
Pouteria