THE POND APPLES 171 



margined. The flowers in April form pointed, triangular 

 boxes by the touching of the tips of the yellowish white 

 petals, whose inner surfaces near the base have a bright 

 red spot. 



The fruit, which ripens in November, is somewhat heart- 

 shaped, four to six inches long, compound like a mulberry. 

 The smooth custard-like flesh forms a luscious mass be- 

 tween the fibrous core and the surface, studded with the 

 hard seeds. Fragrant and sweet, these wild pond apples 

 have small merit as fruit. Little effort has been made to 

 improve the species horticulturally. Its rival species in 

 the West Indies have a tremendous lead which they are 

 likely to keep. 



The Cherimoya 



Anona Chertmolia, Mill. 



The cherimoya, native of the highlands of Central 

 America, has long been cultivated, and its fruit has been 

 classed, with the pineapple and the mangosteen, as one of 

 the three finest fruits in the world. Certainly it deserves 

 high laiiiv among the fruits of the tropics. This also has 

 been introduced into cultivation in southern Florida, but 

 its culture has assumed much more importance in Califor- 

 nia, where it seems to feel quite at home. 



The tree is a handsome one, with broad velvety bright 

 green leaves, deciduous during the winter months. It 

 grovvs w^herever the orange is hardy, and its fruit, heart- 

 shaped or oviil, gr(^en or brown, is about the size of a navel 

 orange. Conical protuberances cover the surface and 

 enclose a mass of white, custard-like pulp, with the flavor 

 of the pineapple, in whicli are imbedded twenty or thirty 



