[4] Lecythis zabucajo is perhaps the most important edible species, but the seeds of L. ollaria and L. pisonis are also used.

The fruit is coconut-sized, and roundish and woody, with a cap that pops off when it reaches maturity.

Inside the fruit are anywhere from eight to 40 seeds, which eventually fall from the woody capsule after a period of time.

[5][6] The entire fruit in question is highly curious: It is six inches and more long, about four wide of a thick and woody texture opening at the top like a box with a transverse lid.

[7] Jean-Baptiste Christophore Fusée Aublet (1720-1778), discovered the Lecythis zabucajo during his two-year sojourn in French Guiana, where he held the office of Apothecary Botanist.