Manilkara

"Sapota" redirects here. This can also specifically refer to the Sapodilla (M. zapodilla).

Manilkara
Manilkara jaimiqui ssp. emarginata branch with developing fruit
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Division:	Magnoliophyta
Class:	Eudicotyledoneae
(unranked):	Asterids
Order:	Ericales
Family:	Sapotaceae
Genus:	Manilkara
Species
About 70-90, see text
Synonyms
Achras Sapota Chiku

Manilkara is a genus of trees in the family Sapotaceae. Collectively known as manilkara trees, they occur throughout the tropics. A close relative is the genus Pouteria.

Trees of this genus yield edible fruit, useful wood and latex. The best-known species are Balatá (M. bidentata), Chicle (M. chicle) and Sapodilla (M. zapota). M. hexandra is the floral emblem of Prachuap Khiri Khan Province in Thailand, where it is known as rayan.

These trees often are significant or even dominant species in their native ecosystems, such as East Deccan dry evergreen forests, Central American premontane tropical wet forest, or (together with Cynometra) in the Arabuko Sokoke National Park. Manilkara fruit are an important food item for various frugivores, in particular birds. The Red Fruit Bat (Stenoderma rufum) is the only significant – if not the only at all – seed disperser of Balatá in parts of the Caribbean. The peacock mite species Tuckerella xiamenensis was described from a Sapodilla tree.

Several species are endangered due to overexploitation and habitat destruction. M. gonavensis of Haiti and M. spectabilis of Costa Rica are almost extinct already.

Selected species

• Manilkara bahamensis – Wild Dilly
• Manilkara bella
• Manilkara bidentata – Balatá, Ausubo, Bulletwood, Massaranduba, "cow-tree", "purple-heart"
• Manilkara bolivarensis
• Manilkara cavalcantei
• Manilkara chicle – Chicle
• Manilkara concolor (Harv. ex C.H. Wr.) Gerstn.
• Manilkara dardanoi
• Manilkara decrescens
• Manilkara discolor (Sond.) J.H. Hemsl.
• Manilkara elata
• Manilkara excelsa
• Manilkara excisa
• Manilkara gonavensis
• Manilkara hexandra – palai, palu, rayan
• Manilkara kanosiensis
• Manilkara jaimiqui (C. Wright) Dubard
  • Manilkara jaimiqui ssp. emarginata (L.) Cronq.
• Manilkara kauki – caqui, wongi (Australia)
• Manilkara littoralis
• Manilkara longifolia
• Manilkara maxima
• Manilkara mayarensis
• Manilkara mochisia (Bak.) Dubard
• Manilkara multifida
• Manilkara nicholsonii
• Manilkara paraensis
• Manilkara pleeana
• Manilkara pubicarpa
• Manilkara rufula
• Manilkara sideroxylon
• Manilkara spectabilis
• Manilkara subsericea
• Manilkara valenzuelana
• Manilkara zapota – Sapodilla/sapota/sapoti, dilly (Bahamas), naseberry (Caribbean), chico/chiku/ciku, "snake fruit", "níspero/nipero/mespel"