AGRICULTURAL BULLETIN 
OF THE 
STRAITS 
AND 
FEDERATED MALAY STATES, 
No. io-.] JULY, 1902. [Vol. 1. 
FRUITS OF THE MALAY PENINSULA, 
Wild or Cultivated. 
By H. N. Ridley. 
In this paper I propose to give notes on the fruits of the Malay 
Peninsula, both those introduced from other regions and the wild 
ones or native kinds, that may be or have been considered eatable. 
Many of the wild fruits which are mentioned in books of travel 
and the like are really very poor and only fit for natives, but still 
I consider these worth recording partly as a matter of general in- 
terest and partly because questions are often asked as to the value 
of such fruits. Many exotic fruits again which have been introduced 
into the Straits Settlements and often highly recommended in 
books are certainly either tasteless or poor here, though under other 
circumstances they may possibly be more valuable. 
I have arranged the fruits according to natural orders, as I found 
it difficult to class them satisfactorily in any other way. This 
arrangement has at least the advantage of keeping many closely 
similar fruits together. 
Anonace^e. 
I o this order belongs one genus of really good fruits, that is 
Anona, the custard apples. All are natives of South America, 
small trees or little more than shrubs, with shining leaves and dull 
greenish flowers. They are raised from seed and of fairly rapid 
growth. 
The custard apple, or sweet-sop, Anona squamosa, Nona Kapri 
is a large shrub, easily raised from seed. It will grow in almost 
any soil, unless too damp, but does best in fairly rich soil, in open 
ground. It has been known to fruit in a year and-a-half from 
planting. Fruit is produced rather irregularly throughout the year, 
but has a tendency to be most abundant in June and July. 
It is green and covered with short warty processes and" fair sized 
fruits, are about three inches through. When ripe it turns blackish, 
and becomes quite soft. The creamy pulp surrounding the numer- 
ous black seeds is not very abundant, but is very delicately fla- 
voured. It is used in puddings and ices* in India and a drink like 
cider is made from it in the West Indies. 
