Pouteria

Pouteria is a genus of flowering trees in the gutta-percha family, Sapotaceae. The genus is widespread throughout the tropical regions of the world. It includes the canistel (P. campechiana), the Mamey sapote (P. sapota), and the lucuma (P. lucuma). Commonly, this genus is known as pouteria trees, or in some cases, eggfruits. Pouteria is related to Manilkara, another genus that produces hard and heavy woods (e.g. balatá, M. bidentata) much used in heavy or outdoors construction, as well as edible fruit (such as sapodilla, M. zapota). Many species, like Pouteria maclayana have edible fruits and are important foods, seasonally. Some are being commercially collected and sold on local markets or packed in cans. Pouteria species yield hard, heavy, resilient woods used as firewood and timber, but particularly in outdoor and naval construction, such as dock pilings, deckings, etc. Some species, such as abiu (P. caimito), are considered to be shipworm resistant; however, this depends on the silica content, which may vary from 0.0-0.9%. The weight by volume (at 12% moisture content) of Pouteria wood can be in excess of 1140 kg/m3 (71 lb/ft3; thus, the wood sinks in water. The wood of Pouteria species is prone to considerable movement and warping when it dries out, but in its main use, naval construction, this is not a problem, since the wood never gets really dry. The vessel elements are relatively small and usually di- to quadriseriate; the medullary rays are fine and close together. Pouteria woods are capable of attaining an excellent polish using fine-grained sandpaper and possibly some wax. They can sometimes show an attractive figure of dark stripes against a sandy to mid-brown background colour. However, the wood is hardly used for furniture because it is so dense that items made from it would be difficult to transport. Moreover, it is nearly impossible to work using hand tools. Even using power tools, working these woods presents some problems, as well, but given some patience and practical knowledge, these can easily be solved.