Descripción: Árbol de 10 a 35 m de alto. Copa irregular. Tronco recto y cilíndrico. Corteza exterior gris y con líneas verticales verdes o grises. Hojas imparipinnadas y alternas, con 7-19 folíolos, opuestos en el extremo apical del raquis y subopuestos hacia la base. Folíolos de 3-14 x 2-4 cm, oblongos o elípticos, con ápice acuminado, bordes dentados a veces enteros y base desigual. En plantas juveniles las hojas son de mayor tamaño en comparación con los adultos. Pecíolo de 7-9 cm de largo y pulvinado en la base. Flores blancas y pequeñas. Frutos en drupas oblongas, de 2.5-3 cm, verdes, tornándose negros al madurar.

Datos Ecológicos: La especie crece a bajas y medianas elevaciones, en bosques húmedos o muy húmedos. En Panamá se encuentra en las provincias de Bocas del Toro, Chiriquí, Coclé, Colón, Panamá y la comarca de Guna Yala. Deja caer sus hojas durante la estación seca, pero las repone a inicios de la estación lluviosa. Florece y fructifica de abril a noviembre.

Especies Parecidas: A menudo se confunde con LK sponmo Spondias mombin LK2 , pero en S. mombin la corteza exterior del tronco es marrón o rojiza y con crestas corchosas, los folíolos presentan una nervadura submarginal y los frutos son amarillos al madurar. LK ast2gr Astronium graveolens LK2 es un árbol con hojas parecidas, pero en A. graveolens la corteza exterior es gris o negra y se exfolia en láminas irregulares, los frutos son drupas con cinco alas formadas por los sépalos persistentes del cáliz.

Usos: La madera es empleada para postes de cercas y en la fabricación de cajas y pulpa para papel. La pulpa de los frutos maduros es comestible, pero de sabor muy ácido. Las hojas y las raíces se usan para cicatrizar heridas y en el tratamiento de fiebres y resfriados.

Tree., to 30 m tall and to 75 cm dbh; outer bark not deeply fissured, the surface with thin, narrow strips of periderm; inner bark similar to S. mombin except producing whitish, viscid droplets within a short time after being cut; younger branches glabrate to sparsely crisp-villous to densely villous becoming glabrate. Leaves imparipinnate, alternate, to 54 cm long, usually sparsely crisp-villous on petiole, rachis, upper midrib, and underside of leaflets, especially on younger leaves; leaflets mostly 7-19; blades ovate to oblong-elliptic or oblong, abruptly long-acuminate, acute to subcordate and markedly inequilateral at base, 2.5-16 cm long and 1.8-6 cm wide, +/- revolute, usually ciliate, submarginal vein usually lacking. Panicles terminal and upper-axillary, to 55 cm long; axes and rarely pedicels sparsely to densely crisp-villous; pedicels glabrous or less often pubescent, articulate usually 0.5-2.5 mm below calyx (the articulation sometimes obscured by bracteoles); flowers 5-parted, usually bisexual, rarely pistillate, the first open ones usually appearing with new leaves, the buds usually +/- pyriform; calyx cupulate, the lobes thick, prominent, rounded to blunt-triangular, ca 1 mm long, usually glabrous all over; petals +/- oblong-elliptic, acute and inflexed-apiculate at apex, 2.3-4.3 mm long, white or greenish-white, recurved at anthesis, the veins 3 (including marginal vein); stamens 10, 1.7-2 mm long, in 2 series, exserted at anthesis; disk to 2.3 mm wide, fleshy, undulate-lobed, the width of one side more than width of clump of styles; ovary subglobose, pubescent; styles usually 3 or 4 (rarely 5), usually free and shorter than stamens at anthesis in bisexual flowers; stigmatic surfaces linear, on dorsal surface near apex; pistillate flowers rare; styles to ca 2 mm long, ca twice as long as stamens, united below middle; stigmatic surface ovate, turned inward. Fruits 3-3.5 cm long, minutely pubescent when immature, oblong to obovate and green at maturity; mesocarp thin, green, with a +/- unripened flavor, faintly sweet to acidic; endocarp oblong, nearly as long as fruit, hard, covered by a tough, coarse, fibrous matrix. Croat 11682. Frequent in the forest. Flowers 4-6 weeks later than S. mombin on the island, but since the flowering periods overlap, both species may be seen flowering at the same time. Flowers mostly from April to June, especially in May and June. The fruits mature from September to December, especially in October and November. Leaves fall shortly before flowering, growing in again at the time of flowering. Southern Mexico (Veracruz, Chiapas, Campeche) through Central America into Colombia and Venezuela. In Panama, known from tropical moist forest in the Canal Zone, Bocas del Toro, and Panama (El Llano), and from premontane wet forest in Chiriqui.