cross-posted from: https://slrpnk.net/post/24489864
I recently received seeds of a strange funky fruit from a friend in the Amazon. We have no idea what it is, and Jim West can’t tell from the photos that my friend sent to him either. There was a delay in getting the seeds here, but I stuck them in some soil two days ago, and they are already starting to sprout, so they seem like survivors!
It’s a medium-small tree that fruits in February/March at ~800m elevation in SE Ecuador. If anyone knows what it is, please don’t hesitate to comment.
It’s a Pequi fruit, which is native to Brazil
Do you mean Caryocar brasiliense? It’s definitely not that.
It could also be this https://plantidtools.fieldmuseum.org/en/nlp/catalogue/3667551
That could be it! Have you compared the different Leonia species native to SE Ecuador in order to rule out the others? It seems that multiple exist in the same area, but I can’t find photos of all of them…
EDIT: Oops, posted the same comment twice.
Not peki for sure; it’s mostly a cerrado fruit. It does grow in nearby biomes but OP’s plant is simply too far from that (Southeast Ecuador).