Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
6
Three
Annona
species will be covered in this chapter. One species is thought
to have originated in Central America (sweetsop or sugar apple,
Annona
squamosa
), while cherimoya (
Annona cherimola
) origins are the highland
plateaus of the Andes. The third is not a species but a cross between sweetsop
and cherimoya and called atemoya (
A. squamosa
×
A. cherimola
), the 'ate'
from the Brazilian word for sweetsop and 'moya' from cherimoya. All three
are found cultivated or naturalized throughout the tropics. Cherimoya is
better adapted to cooler, drier and subtropical climates, and sweetsop in moist,
tropical climates and in drier, subtropical climates.
BOTANY
Family
Annonaceae
, in the Order Magnoliales, commonly referred to as the custard
apple family, consists of about 75 genera, widely distributed. The family is in
the basal group of the dicots. Some are grown as ornamentals, while only four
genera produce edible fruit. This chapter will focus on the three
Annona
species
widely grown for fruit.
Important genera and species
The genus
Annona
is the most important, being the second largest genera in
the family, and among its 100 or more species, seven species and one hybrid
are grown commercially. All are native to the
American tropics. Leaves are
alternate, simple and entire, and fl owers may be solitary or in clusters, with
two series of three thick and fl eshy petals. The other closely related genus with
some commercial fruit is
Rollinia
.
