The Philippine Journal of Science, C. Botany. 
Vol. VII, No. 2. June, 1912. 
A CONTRIBUTION TO THE HISTORY AND VERNACULAR 
NOMENCLATURE OF THE CULTIVATED ANONAS. 
By P. J. Wester. 
(From the Bureau of Agriculture, Manila, P. /.) 
Ordinarily the vernacular name of a plant refers only to a 
single species; in fact homonymy in horticultural literature is 
rare, far more so than synonymy. An example of homonymy 
is the name grape which includes most species of the genus 
Vitis, but this causes few, if any, misconceptions. The word 
“nut,” employed to designate the seeds of many very dissimilar 
species, is usually prefixed with a word that clearly identifies 
the species in question. Synonymy is well illustrated in Persea 
gratissima Gaertn., which has been referred to as Avocado, 
Alligator pear. Midshipman’s butter. Vegetable marrow, etc. 
Perhaps the most remarkable recorded instance of homonymy 
and synonymy in the vernacular nomenclature of plants, with 
its attendant confusion, is found among the cultivated Anonas, 
the Cherimoya, Anona cherimolia Miller ; the Sugarapple, Anona 
squamosa L. ; the Custardapple, Anona reticulata L. ; the Soursop, 
Anona muricata L. ; and the Mamon, Anona glabra L. The 
same vernacular names, in a given language, have been used 
continually for two or more of these species ever since they were 
first described by botanists. As these species, have come to be 
better known and more frequently mentioned in literature the 
practice of applying the same name to different species has in- 
creased rather than decreased. This has rendered their identifi- 
cation,. by the layman, most difficult, as two authors frequently 
refer to the same fruit by totally different names. 
It is very evident that much of the hononymy and synonymy 
of these species has originated by the misspelling of the vernacu- 
lar names given by the natives to travellers and botanists. The 
latter, frequently, did not remain in the various countries long 
enough to become thoroughly familiar with the native names of 
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