Sow Exotic Sapodilla ‘Alano’ (Manilkara Zapota) Tropical Fruit & Spice Trees

For a surefire way to grow the Alano Sapodilla fruit you know and love in a convenient container size, look to Silas Wood Sapodilla! 

This semi-dwarf, tropical evergreen fruit tree has a great overlap with other varieties of Manilkara zapota. The Silas Wood Sapodilla, whether grown by graft or air-layer, fruits as quick as just 1-2 years, and is one of the smallest reliably fruiting tropical fruit trees.  In truly tropical climates, Silas Wood Sapodilla has the potential to produce fruit year-round. 

This Sapodilla variety is suitable for container growing. Fruit can be plentiful, even for young trees, and may need to be supported in earlier years. Silas Wood Sapodilla fruit is spherical, ranging 2 to 4 inches in diameter, with an unassuming pear-like caramel brown skin.  When the fruit is ripe, Alano Sapodilla ranks among some of the most luxurious flavors and aromas – somewhere between a tender pear infused with brown sugar with an effervescent  hint of jasmine. 

Sapodilla is thought to have originated in the Central American rain forests, probably in Mexico and Belize. Today, its cultivation has spread all over the tropical belt and grown as a major commercial crop in India, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and Malaysia.  Sapoilla’s are related to Mamey Sapote, Star Apple, and Canistel and are known by many names around the world including Mispel, Zapote, Dilly, Chico, Chico sapote, Zapote chico, Zapotillo, Chicle, Sapodilla plum, and Naseberry, among countless others.