Casimiroa edulis 'Luke' (White Sapote)

Casimiroa edulis commonly known as the white sapote, casimiroa, Mexican apple, cochitzapotl in the Nahuatl language is a species of tropical fruiting tree in the family Rutaceae (citrus family), native to eastern Mexico and Central America south to Costa Rica.

The flavour of the fruit of the variety 'Luke' is mild and sweet, resembling a combination of peach, banana and pear with a smooth creamy texture. Medium to heavy bearing, and starts fruiting 4-5 years from planting. This variety makes an excellent specimen tree, bushy and semi-weeping, with rich green foliage with a short semi-deciduous period after flowering. Grows to 4m tall and 4m wide. This variety is self-fertile, and pollinated fruit grow largest and have 1-5 large seeds embedded in the flesh. Unpollinated fruit do form but these seedless fruits are generally much smaller.

The fruits can be harvested while firm and changing colour from green to lighter shade of green. If picked too soon they will be astringent and very unpleasant. Fruits that are mature enough to pick can be released from the tree with a gentle twist. The skin of the fruit is paper thin so the fruits are better hand picked as they damage and spoil very easily if left to drop. Once harvested, the fruits will ripen quickly. Cool storage will allow them to be kept up to 2 weeks, but this ability will vary from variety to variety. Main fruiting season May to June.

Large-sized plants (15L and above and over 1.5m tall) can only be delivered to Palmerston North addresses.