Chicle is the gum from Manilkara chicle, a species of sapodilla tree. It is a tropical evergreen tree, native to southern North America and South America. It is the traditional material used in chewing gum. The name comes from the Nahuatl word for the gum, tziktli ['tsiktłi], which can also be translated 'sticky stuff'. Scientific classification or biological classification is how biologists group and categorize extinct and living species of organisms. ... Divisions Land plants (embryophytes) Non-vascular plants (bryophytes) Marchantiophyta - liverworts Anthocerotophyta - hornworts Bryophyta - mosses Vascular plants (tracheophytes) Lycopodiophyta - clubmosses Equisetophyta - horsetails Pteridophyta - true ferns Psilotophyta - whisk ferns Ophioglossophyta - adderstongues Seed plants (spermatophytes) †Pteridospermatophyta - seed ferns Pinophyta - conifers Cycadophyta - cycads Ginkgophyta - ginkgo Gnetophyta - gnetae Magnoliophyta - flowering plants Adiantum pedatum (a fern... Classes Magnoliopsida - Dicots Liliopsida - Monocots The flowering plants (also angiosperms) are a major group of land plants. ... Orders see text Dicotyledons or dicots are flowering plants whose seed contains two embryonic leaves or cotyledons. ... Families See text The Ericales are a large and diverse order of dicotyledons. ... Genera See text Sapotaceae is a family of flowering plants, belonging to order Ericales. ... Species About 70-90 species including: Manilkara bahamensis Manilkara bidentata Manilkara chicle Manilkara hexandra Manilkara kauki Manilkara littoralis Manilkara zapote Manilkara is a genus of trees native throughout the tropics, with a concentration of species in the New World. ... In biology, binomial nomenclature is a standard convention used for naming species. ... Natural gums are polysaccharides of natural origin, capable of causing large viscosity increase of a solution in even a small concentration. ... Species About 70-90 species including: Manilkara bahamensis Manilkara bidentata Manilkara chicle Manilkara hexandra Manilkara kauki Manilkara littoralis Manilkara zapote Manilkara is a genus of trees native throughout the tropics, with a concentration of species in the New World. ... World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America North America is a continent in the northern hemisphere bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the south by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the... South America South America is a continent crossed by the equator, with most of its area in the Southern Hemisphere. ... Chewing gum Chewing gum is a type of confectionery which is designed to be bitand killed like a little bunny, not swallowed. ... Nahuatl is a native language of central Mexico. ...

The tree is also grown for its fruit which is plum-sized and has a translucent brown flesh. The tapping of the gum is similar to the tapping of latex from the rubber tree. Zigzag gashes are made in the tree trunk and the dripping gum is collected in small bags. Locals who collect chicle are called chicleros. This is then boiled until it reaches the correct thickness. Widespread tapping has led to the tree becoming scarce and other sources like the related Balatá (Manilkara bidentata) are increasingly being used. Many modern chewing gums use petroleum based plastic instead of chicle. The LaTeX logo, typeset with LaTeX LATEX is a document preparation system for the TeX typesetting program. ... Rubber is an elastic hydrocarbon polymer which occurs as a milky emulsion (known as latex) in the sap of a number of plants but can also be produced synthetically. ... Binomial name Manilkara bidentata (A. DC.) Chev. ... Nodding donkey pumping an oil well near Sarnia, Ontario, 2001 Petroleum (from Greek petr – rock and oleum – oil), crude oil, sometimes colloquially called black gold, is a thick, dark brown or greenish liquid. ... Plastic bottles for recycling Plastic is a term that covers a range of synthetic or semisynthetic polymerization products. ...

Chicle was well known to the Nahuatl-speaking Aztecs and to the Mayans (Amerindians) and early European settlers prized it for its subtle flavour and high sugar content. The word Aztec is usually used as a historical term, although some contemporary Nahuatl speakers would consider themselves Aztecs. ... The Maya people are a Native American people of southern Mexico and northern Central America. ... Brazilian Indian chiefs The scope of this indigenous peoples of the Americas article encompasses the definitions of indigenous peoples and the Americas as established in their respective articles. ...

See also: Antonio López de Santa Anna Antonio López de Santa Anna Antonio de Padua María Severino López de Santa Anna y Pérez de Lebrón (sometimes spelled de Santa Ana) (21 February 1794 – 21 June 1876) was a 19th century Mexican general and dictator. ...

Today there are only a few companies that still make chewing gum from natural chicle.