Pollination experiments with Anonas 
P. J. WESTER 
Among the tropical and semi-tropical fruits that have found 
a congenial home in south Florida are the sugar apple, Anona 
squamosa L., the custard apple, Anona reticulata L., and the 
cherimoya, Anona Cherimolia Miller; one species, the pond apple, 
Anona glabra L., is indigenous. The sugar apple was intro- 
duced in 1833 by Dr: Henry Perrine, but whether the plants 
survived after his death in the massacre at Indian Key in 1840, 
and are the progenitors of the now naturalized plants of this 
species on the Florida Keys, or whether some of these are the 
offspring of a later unauthenticated introduction will probably 
never be known. It is probable that several separate introduc- 
tions have been made from the Bahamas, where the species luxur- 
iates and with which islands the early settlers on the Florida 
Keys were in intercommunication. Introductions have probably 
also been made from Cuba by way of Key West. The custard 
apple was probably introduced in a similar manner. The cheri- 
moya referred to by Reasoner in Bull. No. 1, Div. of Pomology, 
U. S. Department of Agriculture, in 1887, is the custard apple, 
with which the cherimoya is very frequently confounded. The first 
authentic introduction of the cherimoya was made in 1895, when 
Mr. William Freeman brought seed to Little River from San 
José, Costa Rica. 
The two first-named species have fruited fairly well in Florida, 
the sugar apple frequently coming into bearing the third year from 
the sowing of the seed; but only rarely do the trees bear abundantly. 
The failure of the cherimoya to set fruit after having bloomed for 
several years led the writer to begin investigations in 1907, in 
regard to the probable cause of the sterility of this species in 
Florida. From the construction of the flowers and their fragrance 
it became evident that they were entomophilous, and in the course 
of the observations it was discovered that they were proterogynous. 
After this discovery was made there was begun a comparative 
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