mystery funky fruit from the Amazon
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.
EDIT
Photos of the tree itself and its leaves:
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).
Looks like cucurbitaceae but couldn’t say much beyond that. Brazil is not well known to me.
Was it growing on a vine?
Yeah, it would help a lot to know if it's a tree or vine.
If you only got the seeds though, it would also help to know the size of the seeds
Seeds about the size and colour of jackfruit seeds but more flattened, so something like small/dry fava beans (though not quite that flat).
Medium-small tree. I thought that I had photos of the leaves as well, but I can't find them now.
Would you say the leaves are long ovals?
Photos of the tree itself and its leaves:
I can't find the photos of the leaves now, but they were fairly long, either elliptic or oblong.
What's it taste like?
I haven't eaten it, but my friend says that it tastes savoury and funky almost like durian.
Yeah, I can't tell what it is. I know a good chunk of Amazon fruits don't taste so great raw, but when prepared they are true delicacies.