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Bumelia lycioides

Common name:	Shittamwood	Family:	Sapotaceae
Author:	(L.)Pers.	Botanical references:	11, 82, 200
Synonyms:
Known Hazards:	None known
Range:	South-eastern N. America - Virginia to Florida, west to Indiana and Texas.
Habitat:	Low moist soils by swamps and streams, also found on rocky bluffs[82].
Edibility Rating (1-5):	2	Medicinal Rating (1-5):	0

Other Possible Synonyms:	From various places across the web, may not be correct. See below.
	B. cassinifolia[B,P] B. lycioides var. ellipsoidalis[B,P] B. lycioides var. virginiana[B,P] B. smallii[B,P] Sideroxylon lycioides[B,G,P]
Other Common Names:	From various places around the Web, may not be correct. See below.
	Buckthorn Bully [B,P],
Systematics:	From a USDA Plants Database
	Order: Ebenales. Sapodilla family

Physical Characteristics

A decidious tree growing to 8m. It is hardy to zone 7. It is in flower from August to September, and the seeds ripen from October to November. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs). We rate it 2/5 for edibility and 0/5 for medicinal use.

The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and requires well-drained soil. The plant prefers acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils and can grow in saline soil. It cannot grow in the shade. It requires moist soil.

Habitats and Possible Locations

Woodland, Secondary, Sunny Edge.

Edible Uses

Fruit.

Fruit[177]. No further details. The fruit has a thick flesh and is about 10mm in diameter[82, 200].

Medicinal Uses

Disclaimer

None known

Other Uses

Wood.

Wood - heavy, hard, not strong, close grained[82, 229]. It weighs about 46lb per cubic foot[235]. Of no commercial value, it is used for tool handles, cabinet making etc[82, 229].

Cultivation details

Succeeds in a warm sunny site in any freely draining moderately fertile soil[200].
Plants are cut back by temperatures below about -15° c but they regenerate freely from the base 200]. Succeeds outdoors at Kew[11], though it is not very vigorous[K].
This species rarely, if ever, fruits in Britain[11]. The tree at Kew flowered freely in the long hot summer of 1989 but did not produce fruit[K].

Propagation

Seed - we have no details on this species but would suggest that if ripe seed can be obtained it should be sown straight away in a cold greenhouse. Stored seed can be sown in late winter or early spring in a greenhouse. When large enough to handle, prick the seedlings out into individual pots and grow them on in the greenhouse for at least their first winter, planting them out into their permanent positions in late spring or early summer, after the last expected frosts.

Suppliers

For more details of plant suppliers please see our Suppliers Page which lists many more places to look.

Web References

[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.
[HP] Links, Photos, Suppliers from Hortiplex Plant Database

References for Sideroxylon lycioides (a possible synonym).

[B] Data (Latin & Common names, other references) from the BONAP's Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.
[G] Data (Common Names, Uses, Distribution) from the USDA/ARS NPGS's GRIN taxonomic database.
[P] Data. (uses, distribution, wetland) from the USDA'a Plants database.

References for the family Sapotaceae.

[CHINA] Data Very detailed botanical/identification info. from the Flora of China.

See the PFAF Links Pages for other sources.

Also try Photos and info from the The Plants Database which has 14,000 images.

References

[K] Ken Fern
Notes from observations, tasting etc at Plants For A Future and on field trips.

[11] Bean. W. Trees and Shrubs Hardy in Great Britain. Vol 1 - 4 and Supplement. Murray 1981
A classic with a wealth of information on the plants, but poor on pictures.

[82] Sargent. C. S. Manual of the Trees of N. America. Dover Publications Inc. New York. 1965 ISBN 0-486-20278-X
Two volumes, a comprehensive listing of N. American trees though a bit out of date now. Good details on habitats, some details on plant uses. Not really for the casual reader.

[177] Kunkel. G. Plants for Human Consumption. Koeltz Scientific Books 1984 ISBN 3874292169
An excellent book for the dedicated. A comprehensive listing of latin names with a brief list of edible parts.

[200] Huxley. A. The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. MacMillan Press 1992 ISBN 0-333-47494-5
Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.

[229] Elias. T. The Complete Trees of N. America. Field Guide and Natural History. Van Nostrand Reinhold Co. 1980 ISBN 0442238622
A very good concise guide. Gives habitats, good descriptions, maps showing distribution and a few of the uses. It also includes the many shrubs that occasionally reach tree proportions.

[235] Britton. N. L. Brown. A. An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United States and Canada Dover Publications. New York. 1970 ISBN 0-486-22642-5
Reprint of a 1913 Flora, but still a very useful book.

Readers Comments

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Plant information taken from the Plants For A Future - Species Database. Copyright (c) 1997-2003.
WEB search engine by Rich Morris - Home Page- Contact Info
Blagdon Cross, Ashwater, Beaworthy, Devon, EX21 5DF, UK.
Website: www.pfaf.org Phone: 0845 458 4719/_44(0) 1208 872963

This page (UK) http://www.comp.leeds.ac.uk/cgi-bin/pfaf/arr_html?Bumelia+lycioides
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