ANNONA FAMILY (ANNONACEAE) 



37. Guanabana, soursop 



Guanabana or soursop, a cultivated aud wild 

 fruit tree, is best knowu by its edil)le si'eeii fleshy 

 fruits 6-8 inches long and about 4 inclies broad, 

 elliptic or e<rji; -shaped, with many curved fleshy 

 spines. Other distin<ruisliing characters are : (1) 

 the oblong or obovate leaves broadest beyond 

 middle, short-pointed at both ends, slightly thick- 

 ened and curved up on botli sides of midrib, shiny 

 green above and paler beneath, with a strong scent 

 when cruslied and alternate in -2 rows; (2) minute 

 round pockets on the lower leaf surface where the 

 side veins join the midrib; and (3) the large, 

 fleshy, pale yellow or sulfur-colored flowers nearly 

 1% inches long and broad, 3-angled from the 3 

 heart-shaped concave outer petals, borne singly. 



A small evergreen tree attaining 20 feet in 

 lieight and fi inches in trunk diameter. The bark 

 is brown and smoothish, the pinkish imier bark 

 tasteless. Twigs ai'e brown or gray, bearing mi- 

 nute raised clots (lenticels). The short petioles 

 are V8-% inch long, and leaf blades 2iA-(i inches 

 long and 1-3 inches broad, the edges without 

 teeth, and hairless or nearly so. 



Flowers are terminal or lateral, on stout green 

 stalks 1/4-3/4 inch long, and have a strong pungent 

 odor. There are 3 minute and inconspicuous 

 broad green sepals % inch long; 3 pale yellow 

 outer petals heart-shaped, pointed, concave, nearly 

 •2 inches long and i/s i'^ch thick, fitting together at 

 edges in bud and rough on outside, 3 smaller, pale 

 yellow, rounded, concave, inner petals nearly 11^ 

 inches long aud less thick; ami a hemispherical 

 axis bearing very many crowded stamens 3/i6 inch 

 long and numerous compacted narrow white pistils 

 ■^\r^ incli long with sticky stigmas. 



The large, aromatic, fleshy fruits (aggregate 

 fruits) weighing as much as 2-5 pounds are com- 

 posed of the numerous united pistils each ending 

 in a fleshy spine or short base of a spine i/ig inch 



Annona muricata L.* 



or more in length, which grows from the style. 

 The juicy, slightly sour, creamy white, edible pulp 

 contains many shiny black or brown oblong seeds 

 1/2"% i'lch long, each developing from a pistil. 

 Flowering commonly from June to October, the 

 fruit ripening mainly in the fall. 



The sai)wood is whitish, and the heartwood is 

 brown. The wood is soft, lightweight (specific 

 gravity 0.4), and not durable. The wood, little 

 used in Puerto Rico, has served elsewhere for ox 

 yokes. 



Valuable for the fruits, which are eaten fresh 

 and used in making drinks, ice cream, and pre- 

 serves. Immature fruits have been cooked as vege- 

 tables. Leaves, flowers, fruits, and seeds have been 

 employed elsewhere in medicines. An insecticide 

 for lice has been made from the leaves. Easily 

 ])ro])agated from seeds and rapidly growing. 



Planted for the fruits and wikl or naturalized 

 in thickets, pastures, and along roads throughout 

 Puerto Rico but commonest on the coast and the 

 lower southern slopes of the Cordillera. Also in 

 Vieques, St. Croix, St. Thomas, St. John, Tortola, 

 and Virgin Gorda. 



Range. — Widely planted and naturalized in 

 tropical regions of America and in western Africa. 

 The native region perhaps is West Indies though 

 not definitely known. Throughout West Indies 

 except Bahamas and from Mexico to Brazil. Com- 

 mon at Key West but infrequent on mainland of 

 southern Florida. 



Otiiek COMMON NAMES. — guauabaua (Spanish) ; 

 guanaba (Guatemala, El Salvador) ; catoche, 

 catuche (Venezuela) ; soursop (English) ; corossol 

 (Haiti, French West Indies) ; corossolier (French 

 Guiana) ; sorsaka, zuurzak soursap (Dutch AVest 

 Indies) ; zuurzak, (Surinam) ; graviola, guana- 

 bano, coraQao de rainha (Brazil). 



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