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Fruits of Cuba. 211 
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had never tasted one, by saying it was composed of 
the flavors of the strawberry, peach, rennet apple, and 
what not beside. It is as well to say at once, that it is 
indescribable and incomparable. 
Axona. The order Anonacee comprises several of 
the most commonly known tropical fruits ; as the Sour 
Sop, Sweet Sop, and Custard Apple. It is distinctly 
marked “by its flowers having the calyx and sepals 
arranged in threes, a number of carpella occupying the 
centre, as in a ranunculus, and by the curious circum- 
stance of their albumen, which here constitutes the 
bulk of the seed, being what is called ruminated, that is, 
perforated in all directions by twisting and crossing pas- 
sages, like the nutmeg.” One of the most widely dif- 
fused and best known species of this family, is the 
ANONA MURICATA ; called by the Spaniards Guaná- 
bana, by the French Corossol; by the English Sour Sop. 
The English name is said to be taken from the Indian 
appellation, Suirsaak. 
The tree is rather small, especially if copie with 
the size of the fruit. The foliage is not thick and clus- 
tered like that of many tropical fruit trees, but loose and 
scattered. The uncultivated kind which I met with in 
the woods, appeared to me to have better foliage though 
- smaller fruit than the cultivated. 
The flower is curious, and strongly characteristic of - 
the family. Its calyx is formed by three stiff triangu- 
lar leaves, like green bark, or the husk of a walnut, an 
eighth of an inch thick, which enclasp the three petals, 
of the same form, and nearly as stiff and thick, and of a 
greenish white. Within these is a ball of numberless 
