Annona glabra

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Annona glabra
Pond-apple foliage
Pond-apple foliage
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Division: Magnoliophyta
Class: Magnoliopsida
Order: Magnoliales
Family: Annonaceae
Genus: Annona
Species: A. glabra
Binomial name
Annona glabra
L.
Synonyms

Annona palustris L.[1]
Annona chrysocarpa Lepr. ex Guill. & Perr.
Annona klainei Pierre ex Engl. & Diels[2]
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Annona glabra also known as Pond-apple is the water loving species of the tropical custard apple fruit tree family Annonaceae, in the same genus as the Annona muricata (Soursop) and Annona cherimola (Cherimoya), Annona.[3]


Contents

[edit] Common names

  • English: alligator-apple, pond-apple, Corkwood, Mangrove anona, cherimoyer, Monkey apple
  • Spanish: anón liso, anona, bagá, palo bobo, Anona de Río (Nicaragua), Anona lisa, Anón liso, Anón de puerco, Anonillo cabuye, Cortisso, Chirimoya cimarrona, Chirimoya de los pantanos, Guanaba (Guatemala)
  • German: Wasserapfel, Alligatorapfel, Mangroven-Annone, Wasserapfel
  • French: annone des marais, Anone des marais, corossolier des marais, Cachiman cochon, Mamain
  • Fijian: kaitambo, kaitambu, uto ni bulumakau, uto ni mbulumakau
  • Japanese: ポンドアップル
  • Portuguese: Araticum-bravo, Araticum-caca, Araticum-cortiça, Araticupana, Araticum-d'água, Araticum-da-lagoa, Araticum-da-praia, Araticum-de-boi, Araticum-de-jangada, Araticum-de-mangue, Araticum-do-bréjo, Araticum-do-mangue, Araticum do Rio, Araticunzeiro-do-brejo, Caroáo, Maçã-de-cobra, Mulato, Cortiça, Cortisso
  • Vietnamese: Bình bát
  • Chinese: 牛心果[1][4][5]

The name Alligator-apple seems to have come from Jamaica and was associated with Annona palustris (now considered to be a synonym of A. glabra); the Dictionary of Jamaican English says of Alligator-apples: "...bears a fine sweet-scented fruit of no disagreeable flavor; but it is said to be a strong narcotic and not used on that account (1774)" and "...it grows in great abundance about the Southside lagoons. When they are ripe, and drop into the water, the alligators watch their falling, and at the proper season of the year, are said to subsist chiefly upon them. (1864)".[6]

[edit] Description

Annona glabra is a semi-deciduous tree, from 1.5 metres (4.9 ft)[7] to 15 metres (49 ft) tall[8] and with enough sunlight can survive root immersion at high tide and prolonged freshwater flooding.[5] [7] Fruits, seeds and wood float on water (an adaptation which facilitates dispersal in flowing water).[5][8]

Stems and leaves
Trunks are narrowly buttressed at the base. Leaves oblong-elliptical, 5 centimetres (2.0 in) to 15 centimetres (5.9 in) long, up to 6 centimetres (2.4 in) to 6 centimetres (2.4 in) wide. Leaf stalks (petiole) are 10 millimetres (0.39 in) to 20 millimetres (0.79 in) long.[8]
Flowers
Curved flower stalks hold 4.5 millimetres (0.18 in) long and 9 millimetres (0.35 in) wide sepals. The outer egg to heart shaped petals meet at the edges without overlapping. They are cream-colored with a crimson spot at base 2.5 centimetres (0.98 in) to 3 centimetres (1.2 in) long and 2 centimetres (0.79 in) to 2.5 centimetres (0.98 in) wide. The inner petals overlap and are slightly clawed 2 centimetres (0.79 in) to 2.5 centimetres (0.98 in) long and 1.5 centimetres (0.59 in) to 1.7 centimetres (0.67 in) wide, whitish outside, dark crimson within with sticky stigmas.[5]
Fruits and reproduction
12 centimetres (4.7 in) long and 8 centimetres (3.1 in) wide fruits; smooth, shiny, and yellow with shallow depressions outside[7] and pinkish-orange[5] to pale orange flesh that fall to the ground when ripe.[7] Fruit is dry and pungent-aromatic.[5]
Seeds are pale[7] or light brown, 1.5 centimetres (0.59 in) long and 1 centimetre (0.39 in) wide.[5]

[edit] Distribution

The tree is native to the West Indies and Florida, and is common in the Everglades. It grows in swamps, is tolerant of salt water, and cannot grow in dry soil. A. glabra can behave as a 'freshwater or brackish water mangrove' as it can survive root immersion at high tide and prolonged freshwater flooding.[5]

It is a very troublesome invasive species in Australia. There it grows in estuaries and chokes mangrove swamps, where its seedlings carpet the banks and prevent other species from germinating or thriving.[9][10]

Native
Neotropic:
Caribbean: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Cuba, Dominica, Florida, Grenada, Grenadines, Guadeloupe Hispaniola, Jamaica, Martinique, Montserrat, Puerto Rico, St. Lucia, St. Vincent
Central America: Belize, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama
Northern South America: French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, Venezuela
Brazil: Brazil
Western South America: Colombia, Ecuador
Afrotropic:
West-Central Tropical Africa: Cameroon, Gabon, Sao Tome, Principe
West Tropical Africa: Cote D'Ivoire, Gambia, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone[1]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN) (1985-11-05). Taxon: Annona glabra L. (HTML). Taxonomy for Plants. USDA, ARS, National Genetic Resources Program, National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland. Retrieved on 2008-04-19.
  2. ^ Aluka. Entry for Annona glabra L. [family ANNONACEAE] (HTML). African Plants. Ithaka Harbors, Inc. DOI:10.5555/AL.AP.COMPILATION.PLANT-NAME-SPECIES.ANNONA.GLABRA. Retrieved on 2008-04-19.
  3. ^ Tamar Valley Weed Strategy (2002-09-04). Pond Apple The Facts (HTML). Which Weed?. Retrieved on 2008-04-21.
  4. ^ Porcher, Michel H. et al.. Annona glabra L. (HTML). Sorting Annona Names. Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database - A Work in Progress. Institute of Land & Food Resources, University of Melbourne. Retrieved on 2008-04-19.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk (PIER) (92007-02-15). Annona glabra (PIER Species info) (HTML). PIER species lists. United States Geological Survey & United States Forest Service. Retrieved on 2008-04-19. “Adams, C. D. 1972. Flowering plants of Jamaica. University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica. 848 pp. or Csurhes, S.Edwards, R. 1998. Potential environmental weeds in Australia: Candidate species for preventative control. Canberra, Australia. Biodiversity Group, Environment Australia. 208 pp.”
  6. ^ Cassidy, Frederic Gomes [1967] (2002). "Alligator", A Dictionary of Jamaican English (HTML), University of the West Indies Press. ISBN 9766401276. Retrieved on 2008-04-21. 
  7. ^ a b c d e Lorence, David H. (198709-22). Record Detail ANNONACEAE Annona glabra L. (HTML). Herbarium Database. National Tropical Botanical Garden. Retrieved on 2008-04-19.
  8. ^ a b c Flora of North America. "1. Annona glabra Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 1: 537. 1753." 3: 540,541, 542, 543, 544, 545, 570, 615. 
  9. ^ Cooperative Research Centre (2003-12-04). County wages war on exotics (Florida) (list of twenty weeds of national significance) (HTML). Weeds CRC: Enviroweeds Archive Titles. Retrieved on 2008-04-21.
  10. ^ Cooperative Research Centre (2007-11-01). Australia's $4b weed crisis. Much bigger than your backyard (HTML). Weeds CRC: Enviroweeds Archive Titles. Retrieved on 2008-04-21.

[edit] External links