282 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM. 



bobo" (Cuba) ; " anouillo " (Guatemala, Honduras) ; " guanabano de corcho" 

 {Santo Domingo), 



The tree often grows about salt water, associated with mangroves. Its 

 English names are " pond-apple," " alligator-apple," and " monkey-apple." The 

 fruit is insipid but is said to be eaten in some localities, while in others it is 

 regarded as poisonous. It is said to be eaten by the alligators that frequent 

 the banks where it grows, lience the name " alligator-apple." The very light 

 wood is used to make bottle corks and floats for fish nets. 



4. Annona muricata L. Sp. PI. 536. 1753. 



Widely cultivated in Mexico and elsewhere in tropical America, the native 

 region not definitely known. 



Small tree, usually 4 to 5 meters high; leaves ill-scented, lustrous, obovate, 

 ovate, or elliptic, persistent; flowers yellow; fruit very large, sometimes 

 weighing five pounds, ovoid or heart-shaped, the ill-smelling skin furnished 

 with numerous recurved fleshy spines, the pulp white and juicy, with a pleasant 

 subacid flavor; wood light-colored, soft, its specific gravity about 0.397. 

 "Guanabano" or " guanabana " (Yucatan, Chiapas, Oaxaca, Nicaragua, Porto 

 Rico, Colombia, Peru, Philippines, Santo Domingo); " anona amarilla " (Ta- 

 ba.sco, Ramirez); " catuche " or " catucho " (Jalisco, Ramirez); " polvox " 

 (Maya, VrMna) ; "zapote de viejas " (Urbina) ; " cabeza de negro" (Oaxaca, 

 Jalisco); "huanaba" (Guatemala); " guanaba " (El Salvador). 



The fruit of the soursop is highly esteemed in tropical regions. It is 

 eaten fresh, used in preparing beverages, made into jelly, tarts, or preserves, 

 and sometimes fermented to obtain an intoxicating drink. Stock also are fond 

 of the fruit. It is reputed to have pectoral, antiscorbutic, and febrifuge prop- 

 erties. The seeds and green fruit are astringent nnd are employed as a 

 remedy for dysentery. The leaves, too, are used medicinally, also the flowers. 

 One of the earliest writers to describe the plant is Oviedo (Lib. VIII, Cap. 

 XVII), who used the Haitian name " guamibano." 



5. Annona purpurea Moc. »& Sesse ; Dunal, Mouogr. Anon. 64. pi. 2. 1817. 

 Annona involucrata Baill. Adansonia 8 : 265. 1868. 



Veracruz, Oaxaca, and YucatJin. Central America and Venezuela. 



Small or medium-sized tree, sometimes 7.5 meters high ; leaves oval to ob- 

 long, 15 to 38 cm. long, short-petiolate, acuminate, thin ; petals velvety outside, 

 deep purple within ; fruit 10 to 20 cm. in diameter, broadly ovoid or subglobose, 

 bearing numerous rigid pyramidal protuberances covered with a feltlike tomen- 

 tum, the pulp orange-colored, fragrant, fibrous. "Cabeza de negro" (Vera- 

 cruz) ; "cabeza de ilama " (Veracruz, Oaxaca) ; " chincua," " ilama de Tehuan- 

 tepec" (Oaxaca); " soncoya," " soncolla," or " sencuya " (Central America)*; 

 "toreta" (Panama); " manirote " (Venezuela); "matacuy " (Guatemala). 



The fruits are sold in the markets of Veracruz and elsewhere. They vary 

 considerably in quality. There is a popular belief that they give rise to chills 

 and fevers. 



6. Anona diversif olia Safford,^ Science n. ser. 33 : 471. 1911. 

 Colima and Guerrero ; type from Colima. El Salvador. 



Small tree with brownish gray aromatic bark ; leaves elliptic or oblong, 15 

 cm. long or less, rounded at apex ; fruit ovoid-globose, about 15 cm. in diameter, 

 covered with low rounded protuberances, the pulp fine-flavored, cream-colored 

 or rose-tinted. " llama," " hilama," " ilamatzapotl " (Mexico) ; " anona V)biT^ea " 

 (El Salvador). 



'■ See also, Safford, Annona diversif olia, a custard-apple of the Aztecs, J(Uin). 

 Washingtm Acad. Sci. 2: 118-125. f. 1-J,. 1912. 



