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Scientific Name: Brosium alicastrum Plant Family: Moraceae Other Names: breadnut, copomo |
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| The Ramón fruit drops to the ground in March and April. These fruits look like diminutive oranges but taste similar to apricots. Though there is little flesh around the large nut inside, the sweet taste of these fruits attracts many animals. Howler monkeys, coatimundis, and other species of mammals have been seen having a Ramón fruit snack at the reserve. Humans use the fruits as well. This tasty skin envelops an edible "nut" that can be leached and ground into a meal for porridge or flat bread. Today, locals consider Ramón "starvation food," but the bread cakes made from Ramón seed are delicious. | |
| These trees tend to grow in areas of disturbed limestone, such as collapsed ancient buildings, and are characterized by large, flamboyant buttressed roots. Ramón, Spanish for browse, was named for its use as animal fodder. Men who led mule trains for early chicle commerce, loggers, and even archaeological projects had to don climbing spurs and scale high in the Ramón trees to cut leafy branches to feed their animals. | |
