Great stuff! Here is a snippet from Morton's book
"This species occurs abundantly wild in swamps along rivers and lakes, especially the Rio Mazán near Iquitos, Peru, and in Amazonian Brazil and Venezuela, often with the base of the trunk under water, and, during the rainy season, the lower branches are also submerged for long periods."
"Seeds were brought to Florida by William F. Whitman in 1964, and plants were raised, he says, in an "acid hammock sand soil" and regularly watered. One plant bore rather heavily in 1972, mainly in late summer with a few scattered fruits the following winter. One plant was 12 ft (3.65 m) tall and equally broad in 1974. In Brazil, the fruit is borne mainly from November to March."
Combined with your passion. I think you are in a great part of the USA to grow them. Tons of acidic rain or straight up swamp water to use for irrigation and outrageously high humidity. I would try planting a few dozen seeds in the Bayou and see if they make it through the winter!