Custard Apple

Custard Apple, the fruit of various species of Anona, the genus of trees which gives its name to the order Anonaceae, allied to the Magnoliaceae. They are mostly natives of tropical America, though extensively cultivated throughout the tropics. In British India this name is applied to A. squamosa, which is also known as sweet sop or sugar apple. In America A. muricata, the sour sop, and in the West Indies A. reticulata, the bullock's heart of India, is called custard apple. The trees are small, with scattered exstipulate leaves and a ternary perianth, having three sepals, six petals, indefinite stamens, and indefinite carpels. The latter become fused together into a large, many-chambered, fleshy, and juicy fruit, oval or rounded in form, and sometimes weighing several pounds. The fruit is more appreciated by natives than by Europeans.