Chrysobalanus icaco

Plant Characteristics

Lifespan:	⌛	perennial
Origin:	✈	?

Cultivation

Exposure:	☼	?"?" is not in the list (sun, part-sun, shade, unknown) of allowed values for the "Exposure" property.
Water:	◍	?"?" is not in the list (wet, moist, moderate, dry, less when dormant) of allowed values for the "Water" property.

Scientific Names

Chrysobalanaceae >

Chrysobalanus >

icaco >

Read about Chrysobalanus icaco in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Chrysobalanus icaco, Linn. Cocoa-plum. Icaco. On coasts and along streams in S. Fla., to S. Amer., and also in Afr., and is sometimes planted in the extreme S. (and in the tropics) as an ornamental shrub and for its sweetish but insipid and dry plum-shaped frs. which are sometimes used for preserves. It is a mere bush on the northern limits of its distribution, and on elevations, but in extreme S. Fla. it reaches a height of 25- 30 ft. Lvs. glossy, thick, obovate (sometimes obcordate): fls. small and white, in axillary erect racemes or cymes; calyx 5-cleft, pubescent; petals 5; stamens about 20: fr. 1-seeded, 1-l ⅝ in. long, varying from nearly white to almost black, globular or nearly so. Wood close-grained and heavy, hard, brown or reddish. It is best prop. by seeds, but may also be had from cuttings of half-ripened wood. C. pellocarpus, Meyer, the small-fruited cocoa-plum, is a smaller plant, with smaller lvs., petals spatulate, drupe obovoid or oblong, about half the size of that of C. icaco; it grows in extreme S. Fla. and farther south; probably not planted. C. oblongifolius, Michx., occurs from Ga. to Fla. and Miss. It is a low shrub, spreading widely by means of underground sts.: lf.-blades longer than broad, sharp-tipped : fr. ovoid or obovoid, about 1-1⅓ in. long: not in cult. L H. B. CH The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

The inland subspecies is C. icaco pellocarpus^wp.

Cultivation

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Propagation

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Pests and diseases

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Gallery

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  Chrysobalanus icaco leaves and flowers (Forest & Kim Starr (USGS))

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  Red leaves on the inland form. (Forest & Kim Starr (USGS))

References

• Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, by L. H. Bailey, MacMillan Co., 1963

External links

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