Jocote

Spondias purpurea

Small red plums eaten green with salt or ripe and sweet; grows from a stuck branch.

Type: small tree · tropical and subtropical food plants
Hardiness: zones 10 to 12
Light: full sun
Size: about 25 ft tall, 20 ft wide
Harvest: February to May
From: Mexico and Central America
Here: Too tender to overwinter outdoors on the Lake Erie shore (zone 6b to 7a): grow it in a pot and bring it in, or treat it as an annual.

Good for: food, wildlife.

Native to: Mexico, Central America & the Caribbean. Hardy in zones 10 to 12.

The story

Jocote, the purple mombin, was grown by the Maya and Aztec, who named it xocotl, fruit, and it is planted as a living fence across Central America from cuttings stuck straight into the ground. Costa Ricans eat it green with salt and lime and ripe in syrup in the dry season.

Planting

Full sun, any drained soil, heat, and a dry season; frost-free. Plant a branch cutting as thick as a wrist at the start of the rains; it roots and fruits within two years.

Growing

Water little; it drops its leaves in the dry season and fruits on the bare branches. Prune to shape after harvest.

Harvest and use

Small plum-like fruit ripens red or purple from February to May; eat green with salt and chile, or ripe and sweet; cook into miel de jocote.

What to watch for

Fruit fly, and frost.

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More tropical and subtropical food plants

General guidance, not professional advice. Conditions vary by yard and year; for local specifics ask your county extension office. Never eat a wild plant you cannot identify with certainty. Traditional uses are shared as history, not medical advice. © 2026 Sean Priest · Irie Orchard. Terms & credits · Privacy · Home