THE ANNONACEOUS FRUITS 



177 



Edward Simmonds. The aim has been to develop a fruit having 

 the delicious flavor of the cherimoya, yet adapted to strictly trop- 

 ical conditions. Some of the hybrids have proved to be very 

 good fruits, and further work along this line is greatly to be de- 

 sired. Wester calls this new fruit atemoya. Hybrids between it 

 and the sugar-apple, the bullock's-heart, and the pond-apple (all 

 of which see below) have been obtained by him in the Philippines. 



THE SUGAR-APPLE (Fig. 25) 

 (Annona squamosa, L.) 



With the exception of the little-known ilama (described later), 

 the sugar-apple is the best of the tropical annonas. In its 

 climatic requirements it resembles the bullock's-heart and the 

 soursop, rather than the 

 subtropical cherimoya. 

 In precocity and pro- 

 ductiveness it excels all 

 of these species. 



The sugar-apple is 

 more widely dissemi- 

 nated throughout the 

 tropics than any other 

 species of Annona, and 

 in many regions is an 

 important fruit. Par- 



i i j ' FIG. 25. The sugar-apple ( Annona squamosa), 



tlCUlarly IS it esteemed a favorite fruit in India and many parts of tropi- 

 cal America. The tree succeeds particularly 



well in dry situations. (X \) 



in India, where it is 



extensively grown. P. 



Vincenzo Maria wrote of it in 1672 : "The pulp is very white, 



tender, delicate, and so delicious that it unites to agreeable 



sweetness a most delightful fragrance like rose water . . . and 



if presented to one unacquainted with it he would certainly 



take it for a blanc-mange." 



