71 



slit. The stamens are surmounted by an expanded, hood-like 

 connective, which is truncate, and sometimes glandular. 



The carpels are numerous, distinct or united; the ovaries 

 usually covered with minute hairs, and containing a single erect 

 basal ovule. The fruit is a syncarpium, formed by the growing 

 together of the carpels and receptacle into a more or less globular 

 fleshy fruit, the surface of which is smooth, scaly, or muricate. 

 The seeds are numerous, with a brown, leathery-crustaceous 

 testa, enclosed in an aril, and containing a large wrinkled endo- 

 sperm with a small, basal embryo. 



From a cultural standpoint the Commercial Annonas are alike 

 in preferring a heavy loam soil; in being intolerant of stagnant 

 water at the roots; in producing an abundance of seeds that 

 germinate very readily; in showing considerable seed variation, 

 so that the best results are almost obtained by shield-budding or 

 cleft-grafting with known varieties; and in coming into bearing 

 at a very early age, often in the third year.* 



The Annona seen most commonly in the Honolulu markets is 

 the sour-sop, A. muricata L. This species is cultivated through- 

 out the tropics, and has a variety of names: guanabana, corossol, 

 Coracao de rainha, graviola, suirsaak, zuursaak, laguana, and 

 prickled apple. f The tree is small, evergreen, and begins to 

 bear at a very early age. It is one of the tenderest of the An- 

 nonas, and thrives in the Hawaiian Islands only on the lowlands. 

 It is abundant on all the islands around the native settlements, 

 and in the gardens of white residents. There are many trees in 

 Honolulu, and the fruit seems to be growing steadily in popular 

 favor. 



The young growth is scurfy-pubescent. The leaves are dark- 

 green, obovate-oblong to ovate or elliptic, acute or abruptly 

 acuminate, leathery, glossy above, rusty beneath, at length 

 becoming glabrous; when crushed they are malodorous. The 

 flowers are large, greenish-yellow; one to three, but usually soli- 



* See P. J. Wester, Annonaceous Possibilities of the Plant Breeder, Philip^ 

 Agric. Rev., Vol. 6, 1913, pp. 312-321; also his Annonaceous Fruits and their 

 Propagation, loc. cit., Vol. 5, 1912, pp. 298-304. 



T See P. J. Webster, A Contribution to the History and Vernacular Nomen- 

 clature of the Cultivated Anonas, Philip. Journ. Sci., 7, Botany, 109-113. 1912. 



