Sapotaceae

Alternate, leathery leaves on trees that ooze white milky latex from any cut; small flowers with fused, often hairy sepals ripen into a fleshy berry — the latex of one member, sapodilla, was the original source of chewing-gum base (chicle).

Milky latex runs throughout the family's bark and fruit — edible once ripe in sapodilla, but historically tapped elsewhere as a natural rubber or gum substitute.