it's Lucuma! Now, can I grow it??

I got a response by cross posting to the ID forum! The fruit my folks had in their ice cream was lucuma, a shrubby looking tree native to Peru. Now, does anyone know if it's available here or if it can be cultured in zone 6/7?

Thanks!

I had not heard of Lucuma until I saw your thread. Out of curiousity, I looked it up on the Internet.

Its scientific name is Lucuma obovata, also known as Polteria lucuma or P. obovata.

It's native to mountainous areas (9-10,000 ft) of Peru and prefers to grow in cooler climates. It can tolerate a few degrees of frost. It has trouble growing in in hot lowland climates. The following is an excerpt from 'South American Fruit Deserving Attention' by Richard J. Campbell of Perdue University:

"Pouteria obovata Baehni. Lucuma. The lucuma is native to the cool highlands of South American, above 1,000 m. Lucuma grows best in cool climates, and is difficult to cultivate in the lowlands. The trees attain a height of 12 m and yield an ovoid to ovate fruit 4 to 8 cm long. The fruit are yellow at maturity with a dry, yellow flesh. While the fruit are immature, it contains a bitter white latex. The fruit can be eaten fresh when ripe, but is generally consumed as a drink or a flavoring. In Chile and Peru the lucuma is a significant commercial crop (Lizana et al. 1986), and specialized grafting techniques to improve precocity are practiced by some nurseries. Within Chile and Peru, the lucuma fruit are usually dehydrated and ground into a fine powder and used as an additive to milk.

This fruit does have some potential for fresh consumption, and there has been research conducted on the harvest indices and storage characteristics (Lizana et al. 1986). The lucuma could fill the same niche in the tropical highlands as the canistel [Pouteria campechiana (Kunth) Baehni] does in the lowlands. However, canistel has not been successful as a fresh fruit in the U.S. market to date. There is little reason to assume that the lucuma would succeed as a fresh fruit when the canistel has failed. The greater potential for lucuma is probably as a processed product, such as the powder used as an additive to milk."

I also found this link to Ben's Plants:

http://members.cox.net/jonv1/poirier.html

And, for seed:

http://www.tradewindsfruit.com/lucuma.htm

Wow -- thanks!!! The search I did after posting found the Tradewinds site, but missed Ben's Plants. I'm trying to figure out if I'd have any luck here (zone 6b, Frederick MD). I'm afraid our summers may be too hot (are we a "hot lowland" climate?), and our winters may be too cold, even if our average temperatures might be about the same, but I really don't know much about conditions high in the Andes Mtns!