Sideroxylon
(from sideros, iron, and xylon, wood; alluding to the very hard wood furnished by the various species). SYNS. Achras and Sapota (as far as the Old World species are concerned), Robertsia. ORD. Sapotaceae. A genus comprising nearly sixty species of stove or greenhouse, glabrous or pubescent trees or shrubs; they are broadly dispersed through the tropics, a few are found in the extra-tropical regions-South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand-and one in Madeira. Flowers usually small, sessile or pedicellate, fascicled at the nodes or axillary, five-parted; calyx segments closely imbricated; corolla broad or tubular-campanulate. Berries ovoid or globose. Leaves coriaceous, scattered. The fruits of S. dulcificum have a very sweet taste, and are known, with others, in West Africa, under the name of Miraculous Berry. Several of the species have been introduced, but they are of little or no value from a garden standpoint.