ANNONA FAMILY (ANNONACEAE) 



39. Anon, sugar-apple 



Anon or sufjar-apple, well known for its sweet- 

 ish edible fruits, is a cultivated tree which also 

 gi-ows spontaneously. Its distinj;;uishing charac- 

 ters are: (1) twi<;s slijihtly zi<;zag, preen and 

 densely hairy when young; (2) short-stalked 

 hmce-shaped to oblonp leaves 2-51^ inches long 

 and %-2 inches broad, alternate in 2 rows; (3) 

 yellow-gi-een narrow flowers %-l inch long with 

 3 narrowly oblong petals, usually a few in a lateral 

 cluster; and (4) nearly round or heart-shaped yel- 

 lowisli-green fruit 21/4— i inches in diameter, cov- 

 ered with a whitish bloom but soon turning black- 

 ish where rubbed and bruised, composed of numer- 

 ous rounded tubercles or raised segments, with 

 wliitish, sweet, juicy, custardlike or creamy pulp. 



A small deciduous tree attaining 10-20 feet in 

 height, with broad open crown of irregularly 

 spreading branches. The bark is brown, smooth- 

 ish to sliglitly fissured into ]ilates. Inner bark is 

 light yellow and slightly bitter. The twigs be- 

 come brown with light brown dots (lenticels). 



The green hairy petioles are V^-Vo inch long. 

 Blades are short- or long-pointed at apex and 

 short-pointed or rounded at base, the sides some- 

 times slightly unequal, the edges without teeth, 

 inconspicuously hairy at least when young, mi- 

 nutely dotted when examined with a lens, thin, dull 

 green to dark green above, and beneath pale blue 

 green and covered with a bloom. 



There are 1— i fragrant flowers on slender hairy 

 stalks in short lateral clusters but not at base of 

 a leaf. The 3 pointed green hairy sepals or calyx 

 lobes are about y^^ inch long; the 3 thick and 

 fleshy outer petals %-l inch long and 14 "^^h wide, 

 yellow green, slightly hairy, tlie inside light yellow 

 and keeled with a purplish or reddish spot at the 

 tliin enlarged base, and 3 minute pointed scales as 

 inner petals; very numerous crowded white sta- 

 mens less than i/m incli long in a central mass; and 

 many separate pistils Yiq inch long, with light 

 green ovary and white styles, crowded on the raised 

 axis. 



Annona squamosa L.* 



The aggregate fruit is formed from the numer- 

 ous pistils of a flower, which are loosely united, 

 soft, and more distinct than in other species of the 

 genus. Each pistil forms a tubercle, mostly i/4-% 

 inch long and 14-!/^ inch wide and a separate thin 

 edible pulp, in which is imbedded 1 oblong shiny 

 blackish or dark brown seed 1/4-% inch long. In 

 flower and fruit nearly through the year. 



Tlie sapwood is light yellow. The heartwood is 

 brownish. The wood is soft, lightweight, and 

 weak. 



Tlie fruit pulp is eaten raw and may be used to 

 prepare drinks or sherbet. The green fruits, seeds, 

 and leaves have insecticidal properties. Else- 

 where, the leaves, shoots, and roots have been used 

 in local remedies. 



Planted in Puerto Rico for the edible fruits, 

 spreading from cultivation in roadsides and val- 

 leys and also in forests where possibly native. 

 Commonest on the dry coast of Puerto Rico. Also 

 in Vieques, St. Croix, St. Thomas, St. John, 

 Tortola, and Virgin Gorda. Grown moi-e in the 

 Virgin Islands than in Puerto Rico. 



Range. — Native of tropical America, but the 

 original home uncertain. Named botanically from 

 Jamaica. Now widely cultivated as a fruit tree 

 and spontaneous or naturalized through the tropics 

 of the world. Planted or naturalized in southern 

 Florida, including Florida Keys, throughout West 

 Indies, from Mexico to Brazil, and in the Old 

 World. 



Other common names. — anon (Spanish) ; sara- 

 muya, chirmoya (Guatemala) ; anona de Guate- 

 mala (Nicaragua) ; anon domestico, anon de aziicar 

 (Colombia) ; chirimoya (Ecuador) ; sugar-apple, 

 sweetsop (United States, English) ; apple-bush 

 (Grenadines) ; cachiman cannelle (Haiti) ; pomnie 

 cannelle (Guadeloupe, French Guiana) ; scopappel 

 (Dutch West Indies); kaneelappel (Surinam); 

 at a, fruta de conde, pinha (Brazil) . 



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