Family: Sapotaceae

Origin, Description & Uses
Lucuma bifera, commonly known as lucuma or lucmo, is a fruit tree native to the Andean regions of Colombia south to northern Chile. This evergreen tree is valued for its round to oval fruits, which have greenish skin and dry, golden-yellow flesh with a naturally sweet flavor often compared to maple, sweet potato, or caramel. Lucuma has long been cultivated in South America as a food crop and is especially popular in desserts, ice cream, smoothies, and baked goods. The tree also serves as an attractive ornamental with glossy leaves and a dense canopy suited to tropical and subtropical gardens.

Risks & Threats
Lucuma is considered a low-risk species for Hawaiʻi. It is primarily grown in cultivation and has not shown strong tendencies to spread aggressively or invade natural ecosystems. The tree generally depends on human planting and care for successful establishment, and its fruits are mainly dispersed through harvesting rather than natural spread. As with many introduced fruit trees, responsible planting practices are encouraged to prevent unwanted seedlings, but overall this species is not regarded as a significant environmental threat.

High Risk Traits:

• Native to high elevation tropical climates
  
• Tolerates many soil conditions (and potentially able to exploit many different habitat types)
  
• Self-fertile
  
• Seeds dispersed by humans and frugivorous mammals
  
• Tolerates and recovers from fires

Low Risk Traits:

• No evidence of naturalization or invasiveness reported elsewhere
  
• Unarmed (no spines, thorns or burrs)
  
• Non-toxic
  
• Edible fruit
  
• Long time to reproductive maturity (6+ years)
  
• Large fruit and seeds unlikely to be accidentally dispersed
  
• Seeds will not persist in the soil