﻿JANUARY 1 TO MARCH 31, 1915. 21 



39808 to 39816. Annona cherimola X squamosa. Annonacese. 



Atemoya. 



From Lamao, Bataan, Philippine Islands. Presented by Mr. P. J. Wester, 

 horticulturist, Lamao Experiment Station. Received January 11, 1915. 



Cuttings of the atemoya, a new hybrid between the cherimoya and the sugar- 

 apple. 



" In 1908, at the subtropical laboratory, Miami, Fla., the writer successfully 

 hybridized the cherimoya and the sugar-apple, the sugar-apple and the custard- 

 apple, the cherimoya and the mamon, and the mamon and the sugar-apple. Sev- 

 eral hundred seedlings resulted from this work, part of which were planted out 

 in 1910, the hybrids between the cherimoya and the sugar-apple showing re- 

 markable vigor and thriftiness. In 1911, hybrid seeds of the same combination 

 from a cross made in 1910 were brought to the Philippines and the seeds sown 

 in March of the same year. These hybrids exhibited the same remarkable vigor, 

 and some attained a height of 2.3 meters in one year and bloomed when they were 

 16 months old. No fruits resulted, however. This year (1913), in the course 

 of the reorganization work at Lamao, where the plants are growing, it became 

 necessary to transplant the hybrids, and their fruiting is on that account unfortu- 

 nately delayed for another year." {Wester, Philippine Agricultural Review, 

 vol 6, 315, July, 1913.) 



The further history of these hybrids is told in the Review for February, 1914 : 

 " The blossoming season of the cherimoya is somewhat in advance of that of 

 the custard-apple, but owing perhaps in part to the shock and retardation due 

 to the transplanting, a few flowers appeared in June on one of the transplanted 

 hybrids. One of these was pollinated with pollen from the custard-apple (An- 

 nona reticulata L.), with the result that it set, and a fruit developed and ripened 

 October 8, 1913. The following is a description of the fruit : Size small, weight 

 280 grams ; length 7.7 cm., equatorial diameter 7.6 cm. ; cordiform in shape, 

 with prominent carpels and distinct areoles ; exterior yellowish green, almost 

 glabrous ; skin very thick and tough ; flesh white, tender, and melting, with a 

 slight trace of fiber, juicy, subacid, rich, and aromatic ; flavor excellent, very 

 similar to a good cherimoya with a dash of the delicate sweetness of the sugar- 

 f'pple; seeds 4 to 7, similar in shape to cherimoya seed, but darker colored. 

 The fruit is rather small, but regular and well shaped, about the size of a sugar- 

 apple, which was to be expected considering that the father parent, the cheri- 

 moya, was also undersized. With the employment of large-fruited cherimoyas 

 for breeding work we may also anticipate a progeny with larger fruits. The 

 atemoya plants, of which there are 23 that have not yet fruited, are very simi- 

 lar in appearance to the cherimoya, and the fruit is also practically identical 

 with the prominent-carpelled cherimoyas. Superior to the sugar-apple, it is not 

 claimed that the atemoya is an improvement upon the cherimoya, but it has 

 been hoped by crossing the cherimoya with the sugar-apple the excellent flavor 

 of the subtropical cherimoya, which does not succeed well in the low latitudes 

 near the Equator, might be imparted to the progeny, and that the other parent 

 from the lowlands would impart to it adaptability to a tropical climate. It 

 would seem that this anticipation has been realized in the above instance. The 

 name atemoya, which is here being proposed for this new race of fruits, is de- 

 rived from a combination of one of the old original names of the sugar-apple, 

 Ate pannicensis (quoted from Hernandez, in his work 'Nova Plantarum, 

 Animalium et Mineralium Mexicanorum Historia,' published in 1651), and 

 cherimoya." (Wester.) 



