Tree of the Week: White Sapote

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The White Sapote -- Casimiroa edulis

‘Zapotl’ is said to signify any ‘soft sweet fruit’ in the Nahuatl language of the Nahua Indians from Central Mexico. ‘Cochitzapotl,’ their name for the subtropical white sapote native to that area, means ‘sleepy sapote’; soporific and medical qualities are claimed for the fruit. A mature tree may produce hundreds of pounds of fruit per year, with custard-like consistency and mild banana/peach flavor. Since the fruit bruises easily it has remained a specialty crop but it is grown commercially on a limited scale. The tree thrives wherever lemons are grown. Hundreds of devoted California Rare Fruit Growers treasure one of the many grafted varieties in their gardens; see their publications or the ‘Fruit Gardener’ for additional information.

The white sapote or custard apple is a beautiful evergreen tree that grows fairly fast to 25 to 50 feet tall and one-half to two-thirds as wide. The right choice of variety and some judicious pruning will keep it much smaller. Seedlings may grow fast and large, but may bear later in life and have less desirable fruit than grafted varieties. The smooth bark is grayish white, the branches may droop a little and the wood is brittle. Shiny green leaves are palmately (hand-shaped) compound, with about five 5-to-6-inch-long leaflets.

After a six- to nine-month ripening time, the small, greenish yellow flowers develop into apple-size green to orange-yellow, round to irregular fruit. Ripening time starts about October in the Southland; some varieties bear year round. To prevent bruising, the fruit should be harvested with a piece of stem attached; keeping the tree away from paved areas makes it easier to deal with fruit drop. The tree dislikes dry desert heat and tropical humidity. It prefers soils on the acid side but will take most soils that are well drained; it is drought-tolerant but performs better with occasional to regular deep watering. Roots are greedy; they are best contained.

Franciscan monks introduced the tree to California around 1810. The white sapote is located in the Rutaceae family; it is very distantly related to citrus. Many other fruit trees that go by the name sapote belong in different genera.

--Pieter Severynen

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