Lucuma vs Canistel morphology.

[Longranger]

Do Lucuma and Canistel trees differ enough in morphology to tell them apart without seeing the fruit?  I ask because I have 4 different varieties if you include Ross as Canistel. The Ross, Oro and Trompo have very similar growth habits leaves and flowers. The fourth Labeled Bruce is similar but the leaves are smaller, a little rounded and slightly shorter. The Bruce flowers are also pointier making me question if it might be Lucuma. None have set fruit. The Bruce is 3rd year in ground, 8 or 9’ tall with many 100s, perhaps 1000s of flowers. It bloomed less the last couple of years and did not set fruit. First year for the other varieties.

[Finca La Isla]

This interests me as well. There is a ‘lowland lucuma’ offered around here but I wonder a lot about this. I haven’t seen any credible article on it and there is so much variation within canistel that, how do we know what’s what?
Peter

[Longranger]

Here’s a couple of images of the tree in question.

[Finca La Isla]

The presentation of these fruit trees can really vary depending on conditions. You are much drier than my farm. Sometimes I go to another area if CR and it’s hard to recognize the same clon!
Peter

[ScottR]

The flowers on your tree in Question look just like my Lucuma tree flowers. I've never seen what Canistel flowers look like so can commit on those flowers. Are they similar looking flowers on Canistel?

[Longranger]

Unfortunately the flowers are very similar.

[nattyfroootz]

Found a key online that indicates the morphological differences between the two.
Here's a small section from the Section Rivicoa of which P. lucuma and P. campechiana are both in.

Page 376
The key can be found here.
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Does_anyone_have_the_key_to_identify_Pouteria_Sapotaceae_of_Amazon_rainforests

[Finca La Isla]

I really don’t see how this settles anything to do with lucuma and canistel.

[nattyfroootz]

It describes the key morphological characteristics that distinguish the two species. If you go through to the key itself you can find distinct descriptions of each species. The first line of each indicates that the new growth on each species is distinct and different.  P. campechiana, "
Tree; young shoots finely sericeous, soon gla- brous,greyish-brown, finelycracked,lenticellate"

P. lucuma "young shoots puberulous to shortly pu- bescent, becoming glabrous, pale grey-brown, slightly roughened and scaling, lenticellate or not."

They are definitely very similar species and very closely related, which is why  they are in the same section.  This map even is a good representative of the distributions which is fun to ponder their evolutionary histories and the reason they are distinct species.

[Longranger]

I am sure the descriptions are very useful if one has a good working knowledge of classic botanical nomenclature and
Morphology. Unfortunately I do not and a quick attempt at self education was not successful. For me it will take pictures or the experienced eye of someone else. No worries as I will be equally delighted to see fruit on the tree be it Canistel or Lucuma. I have never had a tree bloom this intensely without fruit so fingers crossed.