Lucuma bifera
Lucuma bifera is a species of tree in the family Sapotaceae, cultivated for its fruit, the lúcuma. It is native to the Andean valleys of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and northern Chile.
Description
This evergreen tree is up to tall, and has greyish-brown, fissured bark, which produces a milky white exudate. The end of branchlets and the petioles are covered with short, brown hairs. The leaves are simple, oblanceolate to elliptical, up to long and wide, and glabrous grouped at the end of the branches. Flowers are solitary or in fascicles, small, axillary, with hairy sepals and a corolla forming a tube long, greenish white, with five lobes, five stamens, five staminodes, a pubescent ovary, and a style long. The fruit is globose, long, glabrous, and russet to yellow when mature; the pulp is bright yellow; the one to several seeds are long, dark brown, and glossy.History
Representations of lúcuma have been found on ceramics at burial sites of the indigenous people of coastal Peru. The Moche people had a fascination with agriculture and often chose to represent fruits and vegetables, including lúcuma, in their art.The fruit was first seen and reported by Europeans in Ecuador in 1531.
Distribution and habitat
The area of origin of L. bifera is located in the Andes of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and northern Chile, at temperate elevations of.Cultivation
In addition to Peru, the fruit is grown also to a limited extent in Bolivia, Chile and Costa Rica. Attempts at growing lúcuma in Florida's climate are typically not successful. The fruit is successfully grown in Vietnam, where it is known as lêkima.In Peru, harvesting season is from October to March and in Chile from June to November.