Sugar apple (Annona squamosa)
Description
Annona squamosa is a small, well-branched tree or shrub from the family Annonaceae that bears edible fruits called sugar-apples or sweetsops. It tolerates a tropical lowland climate better than its relatives Annona reticulata and Annona cherimola (whose fruits often share the same name) helping make it the most widely cultivated of these species. Annona squamosa is a small, semi-(or late) deciduous, much branched shrub or small tree 3 metres (9.8 ft) to 8 metres (26 ft) tall very similar to soursop (Annona muricata) with a broad, open crown or irregularly spreading branches and a short trunk short, not buttressed at the base. It is called SitaPhal in India. Branches with light brown bark and visible leaf scars; inner bark light yellow and slightly bitter; twigs become brown with light brown dots (lenticels – small, oval, rounded spots upon the stem or branch of a plant, from which the underlying tissues may protrude or roots may issue). Thin, simple, alternate leaves occur singly, 5 centimetres (2.0 in) to 17 centimetres (6.7 in) long and 2 centimetres (0.79 in) to 6 centimetres (2.4 in) wide; rounded at the base and pointed at the tip (oblong-lanceolate). Pale green on both surfaces and mostly hairless with slight hairs on the underside when young. The sides sometimes are slightly unequal and the leaf edges are without teeth, inconspicuously hairy when young.
Taxonomic tree
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Domain: Eukarya
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Kingdom: Plantae
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Phylum: Magnoliophyta
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Class: Magnoliopsida
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Order: Magnoliales
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Family: Annonaceae
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Genus: Annona
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