94 Sketch of the Tropical Fruits likely to be worth 



because their constitutions are by nature so robust, that they 

 are but little affected by the artificial atmosphere in which, 

 in their cultivated state, they are necessarily preserved. 



Of these stand highest in estimation the various species 

 of Anona, which are among the few trees which have in the 

 lapse of time passed from the Western to the Eastern he- 

 misphere. 



The true Custard Apple (Anona reticulata) is produced 

 by a small weakly branching tree. The leaves are ovate - 

 lanceolate, with a long point, and the flowers yellowish 

 green. The fruit is as large as a tennis ball, or somewhat 

 less, of a dull brown colour, and divided, on its outside, into 

 numerous irregular spaces, or areola?, from which its name is 

 derived. The flesh is soft, sweet, yellowish, or reddish, of the 

 consistence and flavour of a custard.* It is generally cultivated 

 along with the next species, under the collective name of Cus- 

 tard Apple, and it is figured in Rumphius, Vol.i. plate 45. 



The Sweetsop (Anona squamosa) is a smaller tree than 

 the last, in some parts of the East Indies not forming more 

 than a bush. The leaves are oblong-lanceolate, with a shorter 

 point than the last.f The fruit is of a greenish yellow colour, 

 having its surface covered with scales, which give it the 

 appearance of a young Pine cone. When ripe it is the size 

 of an Artichoke ; its skin is half an inch thick, containing 

 an abundance of thick, sweet, luscious pulp, which is said to 

 taste like clotted cream mixed with sugar. Its seeds are 

 numerous, large, black, and hard. In Surinam it is called 

 Pomme de Cannelle, and is very common in the gardens of 



* Rumphius, Vol. i. page 136. Crawfurd, Vol. i. page 431. 

 f Rumphius, Vol. i. page 138. 



