The Custard Apple in Queensland. 35 



fruit described was from a tree growing at Mount Cotton. The flavour is 

 poor watery sweet, and the seeds are numerous. It is not a desirable 

 kind to grow. 



A. muricata, L. (page 26). The Sour Sop is one of the oldest 

 known kinds of Anona. It is indigenous to the West Indies and other 

 parts of the tropics. It does not thrive in Southern Queensland, but is 

 to be found growing well in the North. The tree figured is from Mossman 

 district. The fruit is large, sometimes attaining a weight of 6 or 8 Ib. 

 It is of an irregular pyriform shape, and is covered with soft prickles 

 or spines. It has a pleasant sub-acid flavour, but the pulp is inclined 

 to be fibry. Fruit No. 11 may be from a cross between the Sour Sop 

 and the Cherimoya. 



A. reticulata Bullock's Heart. Another species requiring tropical 

 conditions, and not common in Southern Queensland, but found growing 

 well in the North. The name Bullock's Heart aptly describes the 

 appearance of the fruit, which is heart-shaped, smooth, and has reddish 

 reticulation or veining over the skin. The flesh is yellowish-white and of 

 a good flavour. Plate 2 shows indications of reticulata characteristics. 



A. squamosa L. (Plate 3. Sweet Sop or Sugar Apple). This, like 

 the Sour Sop, is a native of the West Indies, and requires tropical con- 

 ditions for perfect growth. The tree has a regular system of branches 

 not so diffuse as the Cherimoya and the Mammoth. The fruit is heart- 

 shaped or globular, with very prominent tubercules, and the average 

 weight is about 8 oz. The flavour is good, flesh firm, but seeds are 

 numerous. 



Up to the time of going to press flowers were not available, hence 

 the other fruits described, which are not otherwise known, have not been 

 determined as to species. No. 6 is a distinct fruit of a regularly flat 

 shape. No. 21 is the first fruit from a young Anona growing in Mr. 

 Pink's garden at Badgen, Wellington Point. He obtained the seed via 

 the United States Department of Agriculture from Paraguay. The skin 

 was somewhat thick and hard and the flesh gritty. The flavour was 

 fairly good. No. 23 is a fruit of a very distinct kind from the orchard 

 of Mr. James Collins. It is of a dark choice! ate colour, and the skin is 

 hard and much inclined to split or crack. The flavour is fair. The fruit 

 No. 20 had the thickest and hardest skin of any of the whole collection. 

 Judging from this and other characters it might be placed under A. 

 scleroderma, and the fruit described as No. 19 might come under A. 

 lutescens, being a bright lemon colour, and otheriwse resembling that 

 species. 



It is probable that, in view of the tendency of Anonas to cross- 

 fertilisation, a number of the fruits described are from natural hybrids. 

 Until the determination of species is complete little comment can be 

 made on these. The fruit figured on Plate 11 shows signs of being a 

 cross between A. clierimolia and A. muricata. This fruit is commonly 

 called the Prickly or the Mount Cotton. It is quite distinct in its having 



