ABSTRACT
This chapter provides information on uses, folk medicine, chemistry, germplasm, distribution, ecology, cultivation, harvesting, yields, energy, and biotic factors of Coco de Mono. Lecythis Minor Jacq trees are cultivated for the nuts, which have a delicious flavor and possess a high oil content. The seeds have been reported to be somewhat toxic, especially if eaten in large quantities. Ingesting the nuts is known to cause loss of hair and nails, at least in seleniferous areas. Though seeds taste agreeable, injestion may induce nausea, anxiety, and giddiness. Reported from the South American Center of Diversity, coco de mono, or cvs thereof, is reported to tolerate low pH. Flowers most profusely from April to December and produces mature fruit from December to February throughout its native range. At Summit Gardens, Panama, where it is cultivated as an ornamental, this species flowers during the wet season from April to November.
