184 MANUAL OF TROPICAL AND SUBTROPICAL FRUITS 



\ > 



\ Macmillan says that it thrives in Ceylon up to elevations of 



2000 feet. It is cultivated in India, in Cochin-China, and in 

 many parts of Polynesia. Vaughan MacCaughey states that 

 it is the commonest species of Annona in the markets of Hono- 

 lulu. Paul Hubert notes that it is cultivated in Reunion and 

 on the west coast of Africa. 



It will be observed that its distribution is limited to tropical 

 regions. In the United States it can only be grown in southern 

 Florida, where with slight protection it succeeds at Miami and 

 even as far north as Palm Beach. Exceptionally cold winters, 

 however, may kill the trees to the ground. In California it is 

 not successful. 



The name soursop is of West Indian origin, and is the one 

 commonly used in English-speaking countries. In Mexico the 

 fruit is known as zapote agrio, and more commonly as guandbana 

 (sometimes abbreviated to guanaba), which is the name most 

 extensively used in Spanish-speaking countries. Guandbana is 

 considered to have come originally from the island of Santo 

 Domingo. In the French colonies the common name is 

 corossol or cachiman epineux. Yule and Burnell say : " Grainger 

 identifies the soursop with the suirsack of the Dutch. But in 

 this, at least as regards use in the East Indies, there is some 

 mistake. The latter term, in old Dutch writers on the East, 

 seems always to apply to the common jackfruit, the 'sourjack,' 

 in fact, as distinguished from the superior kinds, especially 

 the champada of the Malay Archipelago." In Mexican publi- 

 cations the soursop is sometimes confused with the soncoya 

 (A. purpurea), though it actually differs widely from the latter 

 both in foliage and fruit. 



The soursop is more tolerant of moisture than the sugar- 

 apple, and can be grown in moist tropical regions with greater 

 success. Temperatures below the freezing point are likely to 

 injure it, although mature trees may withstand 29 or 30 

 above zero without serious harm. 



