Caryocar costaricense Donn.Sm.

Trees to 50 m tall; trunk buttressed to 1.5 m; young branches sparsely puberu-lous-glabrescent. Leaves trifoliolate; petioles 4.5-12.0 cm long, sparsely puberu-FIGURE 1. Caryocar amygdaliferum Mutis.-A. Habit (X '/2 ).-B. Endocarp of fruit (X ?/2).-C-D. Petals (X '/2).-E. Ovary and styles (X1/2).-F. Arrangement of stamens (X 1/2).-G. Tubercles on filaments (x '/2). [After Romero C. 4840 (COL), Colombia.] lous-glabrescent, terete; leaflets shortly petiolulate, the terminal petiolule 2.0-3.0 mm long, the lateral petiolules sparsely puberulous-glabrescent, terete; blades oblong, apically slightly asymmetrical, acuminate, the acumen 10.0-15.0 mm long, basally rounded to subcuneate and unequal, the margins serrate, glabrous above, glabrous beneath except for hirsute masses in the axils of the primary veins, the terminal blade 13.0-16.5 cm long, 6.0-7.5 cm broad, the lateral blades slightly smaller than the terminal one, the primary veins 10-12 pairs, plane or shallowly impressed above, prominent beneath, the venation plane to prominulous beneath; stipels persistent, to 1.0 cm long, inflated. Inflorescences clustered racemes, ca. 30-35-flowered; peduncles 9.0-15.0 cm long, sparsely puberulous-glabrescent, terete; rachis 2.0-3.5 mm long, sparsely puberulous; bracteoles 2, caducous. Flow-ers with the calyx cupuliform, 6.0-7.0 cm long, sparsely puberulous on the ex-terior, the lobes 5,--ciliate, rounded; corolla 2.0-2.8 cm long, the lobes 5, oblong, glabrous, yellow; stamens numerous, ca. 150, the filaments basally shortly united but not into groups, 4.0-5.0 cm long, yellow, tuberculate towards the apex, the anthers small; ovary globose, 4-locular, glabrous on the exterior, the styles 3-4, filamentous, glabrous, ca. 2.0 cm long. Fruits not seen.

Tropical, lowland, moist, non-seasonal, broadleaved, closed forest. Scattered populations are also found in lowland evergreen rainforest.

The fruit are cooked and eaten. Edible oil can be extracted from the seed.

Can be grown by seedlings.