Editing Brosimum alicastrum

{| class="wikitable" style="float: right; width: 320px; margin-left: 1.25em; margin-bottom: 1em;"
! colspan="2" style="background: #e8e8e8;" | Breadnut (''Brosimum alicastrum'')
|-
| colspan="2" style="text-align: center;" | [[File:Brosimum-Alicastrum 02.jpg|300px|Ramon fruit on the forest floor at El Pilar, Belize]]
|-
! Scientific name
| ''Brosimum alicastrum'' <sup id="cite_ref-1">[[#cite_note-1|[1]]]</sup>
|-
! Family
| [[Moraceae]]
|-
! Order
| [[Rosales]]
|-
! Genus
| [[Brosimum]]
|-
! Native range
| Tropical America <sup id="cite_ref-2">[[#cite_note-2|[2]]]</sup>
|-
! Habit
| Evergreen canopy tree, up to about 45 m <sup>[[#cite_note-2|[2]]]</sup>
|-
! Fruit
| Yellow to orange fruit with thin flesh around one large seed <sup>[[#cite_note-2|[2]]]</sup>
|}

'''''Brosimum alicastrum''''' is a large evergreen tropical tree in the mulberry family, commonly called breadnut or ramón. It occurs in lowland forest and seasonally dry or flooded limestone woodland. <sup>[[#cite_note-1|[1]]]</sup> <sup>[[#cite_note-2|[2]]]</sup>

== Description ==

The tree can reach about 45 m in the compiled species account, although size depends on site and growing conditions. Its recorded habitats include moist or wet lowland forest, seasonally flooded woodland, and dry limestone woodland. It is associated with a hot, humid tropical climate that may include a marked dry period. <sup>[[#cite_note-2|[2]]]</sup> <sup id="cite_ref-3">[[#cite_note-3|[3]]]</sup>

The fruit is yellow to orange, with thin edible flesh around one large seed. The seed is the principal food part described in the practical account; it may be used raw or cooked. <sup>[[#cite_note-2|[2]]]</sup>

== Cultivation ==

=== Soil and water ===

Ramón grows in settings ranging from moist or wet lowland forest to seasonally flooded and dry limestone woodland. A practical cultivation account places it in humus-rich, fertile, moisture-retentive soil, while also recording tolerance of shallow calcareous soils. Established plants are described as tolerating both drought and seasonal flooding, but those broad habitat tolerances do not replace drainage and irrigation decisions suited to the local site. <sup>[[#cite_note-2|[2]]]</sup>

In the Yucatán propagation study, young seedlings were irrigated until established. Simulated Maya irrigation produced a four-fold increase in seedling growth rate and increased biomass compared with the study's less-irrigated treatment, so newly planted trees should not be allowed to dry during establishment. <sup id="cite_ref-4">[[#cite_note-4|[4]]]</sup>

=== Sun and humidity ===

The species is associated with hot, humid tropical conditions and is cultivated in full sun or light shade. Give a young tree strong light while protecting it from an exposure that rapidly dries its root zone; an established tree can be evaluated against the moisture behavior of the planting site rather than treated as a permanent understory plant. <sup>[[#cite_note-2|[2]]]</sup>

=== Seasonal changes ===

The species account describes intermittent flowering through the year and a fruiting age of about five to six years from seed. Native settings include both seasonal dry woodland and wetter forest, so irrigation needs can change with the local dry season even though established plants are described as drought tolerant. Seasonal flooding tolerance is also recorded, but prolonged waterlogging should not be assumed harmless in every soil. <sup>[[#cite_note-2|[2]]]</sup>

== Propagation ==

Fresh seed is the directly supported propagation route in the examined Yucatán study. Germination was highest across 27–38 °C, with the best germination and healthy seedling growth at 33 °C; the abstract reports no germination below 21 °C or above 44 °C. These temperatures describe that controlled study, not a universal nursery threshold. <sup>[[#cite_note-4|[4]]]</sup>

The same study describes irrigation until seedlings were established and found a four-fold increase in seedling growth rate under simulated Maya irrigation. Keep seedling media evenly supplied with moisture during establishment while avoiding assumptions about mature-tree irrigation schedules from this early-growth result. <sup>[[#cite_note-4|[4]]]</sup>

== Flowering, fruiting, and harvest ==

Flowering is described as intermittent through the year. Trees grown from seed are reported to begin fruiting in about five to six years, although site, seedling variation, and climate can change the interval. Fruits are described as yellow to orange and contain one large seed surrounded by thin flesh. <sup>[[#cite_note-2|[2]]]</sup>

A public tasting account described ripe fruit as soft and gummy-chewy, with a tangy fig-and-banana impression, and observed increasing sweetness as the fruit changed from greenish orange to late orange or reddish orange. This is one attributed tasting observation, not a fixed flavor profile for every tree. <sup id="cite_ref-5">[[#cite_note-5|[5]]]</sup>

== Fruit and uses ==

The large seed is described as edible raw or cooked, and roasted seed as having a nutty, cacao-like character. The fruit flesh is also described as edible. These traditional-use descriptions do not establish universal food-safety limits or medical effects; preparation and identification should be treated as separate questions from the species' cultivation. <sup>[[#cite_note-2|[2]]]</sup>

== Photos ==

[[File:Brosimum alicastrum Seed UnripeFuite MeridaMX.jpg|300px|Seed of green Ramon fruit]]

== References ==

* <span id="cite_note-1"></span>[[#cite_ref-1|↑]] '''[1]''' [https://api.gbif.org/v1/species/match?name=Brosimum%20alicastrum GBIF species match for Brosimum alicastrum].

* <span id="cite_note-2"></span>[[#cite_ref-2|↑]] '''[2]''' [https://tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Brosimum+alicastrum Brosimum alicastrum - Useful Tropical Plants].

* <span id="cite_note-3"></span>[[#cite_ref-3|↑]] '''[3]''' [https://www.revista.ccba.uady.mx/ojs/index.php/TSA/article/view/2501/1093 Use of foliage from Ramon in animal feeding].

* <span id="cite_note-4"></span>[[#cite_ref-4|↑]] '''[4]''' [https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A:1025081224852 The propagation of Ramón in Mayan homegardens of the Yucatan peninsula of Mexico].

* <span id="cite_note-5"></span>[[#cite_ref-5|↑]] '''[5]''' [https://www.reddit.com/r/botany/comments/1stmjr7/tangy_orange_chewy_fruit_brosimum_alicastrum/ Tangy orange chewy fruit Brosimum alicastrum].

== Image credits ==

* Ramon fruit on the forest floor at El Pilar, Belize: Congobongo1041, [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brosimum-Alicastrum_02.jpg Wikimedia Commons file page], public domain (PD-self).

* Seed of green Ramon fruit: Janhendrix, [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brosimum_alicastrum_Seed_UnripeFuite_MeridaMX.jpg Wikimedia Commons file page], Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 (CC BY-SA 4.0).

[[Category:Fruit plants]]
[[Category:Moraceae]]