e-Flora of Thailand
Volume 16 > Part 1 > Year 2022 > Page 37 > Annonaceae > Annona
5. Annona squamosa L.wfo-0000537947
Sp. Pl. 1: 537. 1753; DC., Prodr. 1:85. 1824; Hook.f. & Thomson, Fl. Ind. 115. 1855; Fl. Brit. India 1:78. 1872; Kurz, Forest Fl. Burma 1: 46. 1877; Cooke, Fl. Pres. Bombay 1: 15. 1901; Finet & Gagnep. in Lecomte, Fl. Indo-Chine 1: 107. 1907; C.E.Parkinson, Forest Fl. Andaman Isl. 80. 1923; Backer & Bakh. f., Fl. Java 1: 116. 1963; P.T.Li & M.G.Gilbert in C.Y.Wu et al., Fl. China 19: 712. 2012; S.Gardner et al., Forest Trees S. Thailand 1: 95. 2015.— Guanabanus squamosus (L.) M.Gómez, Fl. Habanera 114. 1897. Fig. 5A, C.
Accepted Name : This is currently accepted.
Synonyms & Citations :
Description : Deciduous tree or shrub up to 7 m tall; bark brown to dark brown, thin, smooth to slightly rugose. Twigs brown, glabrescent, lenticellate, shoot tip pubescent. Leaves chartaceous, elliptic, oblong to narrowly elliptic or narrowly ovate, 8–15 by 3.5–7 cm, base cuneate, rounded or obtuse, apex acute to obtuse, glabrous above, glabrous or sparsely hairy below, secondary veins more or less eucamptodromous, 8–15 per side, conspicuous above; petioles 4–16 mm long, glabrous. Inflorescences leaf-opposed or internodal, 1–3-flowered, peduncle 2–3 mm long, woody, pedicels 10–30 mm long, glabrous; buds narrowly ovoid. Sepals ovate, 1.5–3 mm, outside pubescent, inside glabrous. Petals valvate, free. Outer petals greenish yellow outside and pale yellow with a dark red or purple spot inside at the base, fleshy, narrowly oblong to narrowly ovate, 15–35 by 5–8 mm, outside puberulent, inside glabrous. Inner petals absent or reduced to acute scales. Stamens numerous, oblong, ca 1 mm long, anther connective apex subtruncate. Carpels numerous, ovate or sometimes oblong, 1–1.5 mm long, villous. Receptacle conical or hemispherical. Pseudosyncarp yellowish or purplish when mature, spherical to ovoid, 7–10 cm in diam., pruinose, areoles rounded, convex, separated by deep grooves. Seeds ovoid or ellipsoid, 10–15 by 6–9 mm, dark brown to black.
Thailand : The species is cultivated almost throughout the country.
Distribution : Native to tropical America, but distributed throughout the tropics.
Ecology : Cultivated. Flowering: May–July; fruiting: June–November
Vernacular : Noi na (น้อยหน่า), ma no nae (มะนอแน่), ma nae (มะแน่)(Northern); ma-o-cha (มะออจ้า, มะโอจ่า)(Shan-Northern); no-klo-sae (หน่อเกล๊ะแซ)(Shan-Mae Hong Son); mak khiap (หมากเขียบ), bak khiap (บักเขียบ)(North-Eastern); noi nae (น้อยแน่)(Peninsular); la nang (ลาหนัง)(Pattani).
CommonName : Custard apple.
Notes: The species has been widely cultivated all over the country as a dessert fruit crop and for medicinal purposes and has become naturalised. Commercially grown “custard apples” in Thailand are, however, usually hybrids between Annona cherimola Mill. and A. squamosa (= Annona × atemoya) or a backcross between A. × atemoya and A. squamosa. Several cultivars, viz. Annona ‘Petch Pakchong’, ‘Nueathong’ and ‘Pakchong KU3’, have been developed in Thailand. Detection or quantification of hybridisation can be difficult. Annona cherimola and A. squamosa differ, however, in density of the leaf indument below (tomentose in A. cherimola vs almost glabrous in A. squamosa) and shape of the pseudosyncarp areoles (smooth and flat in A. cherimola vs raised and convex in A. squamosa).