The Custard Apple in Queensland. 29 



growing on his Redland Bay properties. He distributed a number of 

 scions through the Acclimatisation Society, of which he was President, 

 to Mr. James Collins and others in the State, and in this way he obtained 

 for the giant fruit a wide reputation. After this the variety was freely 

 grafted by fruit-growers and nurserymen and the demand for plants 

 of it has always exceeded the supply. 



The production of Custard Apples in Queensland has risen during 

 the past twenty years from a few hundred cases to about 20,000 cases 

 (19,787 cases to 15th July, crop incomplete) in 1918, and the value of 

 the produce to between 5,000 and 7,000. f 



The name "Custard Apple" is used in a generic sense in the 

 above statement. It may include various fruits with names such as 

 Cherimolia, Cherimoya, Bullock's Heart, Sweet Sop, Sour Sop, Sugar 

 Apple, Pomme Canelle, as well as many of Spanish or American origin. 

 The botanical name of the Custard Apple is commonly spelt Anona by 

 British botanists, but the American botanists now spell it Amiona, as 

 shown in the following extract* : 



"It is doubtful whether there is any other genus which contains so 

 many species having edible fruits as the genus Annona. Already Linne 

 seems to have anticipated this when he created the genus, for the name 

 Annona signifies ' provisions '; it is not, as generally believed, derived 

 from the pre-Linna?an name 'Anona/ which, after Linne, superseded 

 Annona, in our days being again set aside for its older rival." 



"Custard Apple" seems a better generic common name for 

 anonaceous fruit than any other. It is English, whereas " Gherimoya " 

 is of Mexican or South American origin. "Custard Apple" aptly 

 describes the consistency of nearly all the fruits of the genus i.e., like 

 a custard. In California, Florida, and the Philippines the name 

 "Custard Apple" is applied exclusively to the fruit of Anona rcticulata, 

 but this fruit has long been known in the West Indies as the "Bullock's 

 Heart," also at the Royal Gardens, Kew, and this name indicates well 

 the appearance of the fruit, which is of the size and shape of a bullock's 

 heart smooth skin with reddish reticulate veins or markings. 



The first record of the fruit in the world is that of the Dutch 

 naturalist, Piso, who in 1648 described and figured species of Anona 

 which he had found in Brazil in 1637. Since then there have been many 

 additions to the number of species, until now there are about sixty. 

 Only prominent ones which have been introduced or have fruited in 

 Queensland will be dealt with here. The order Anonacece is represented 

 in the Queensland flora by sixteen species, but none are of the genus 

 Anona. 



A. cherimolia (Mill) The Cherimoya. This is the most famous of 

 the Custard Apples, and is the species most cultivated for the excellence 

 of its fruit, especially in California and other parts of America, also in 



*P. J. Wester in Phil. Agri. Eeview, Vol. VI., No. 7 (July, 1913), page 313. 

 tArea under Custard Apples in 1918=159 acres. 



