Plant Identification Learning Module:
Fruits & Nuts
Sugar Apple, Custard Apple (Annona squamosa)
This small tree rarely exceeds 15 feet in height or width. Leaves are pale green, narrow and two to four inches long, sparsely hairy when young, but smooth at maturity. Flowers are greenish yellow, about one inch long and borne singularly, or in clusters of two to four. Ripe fruit are green or purplish-red, round, egg-shaped or somewhat cone-shaped and range from two to five inches in diameter. The fruit consists of many loosely attached segments which project from the fruit surface as rounded lumps and are easily separated at maturity. The pulp is white or creamy-white and soft, with many small, shiny, dark brown seeds. Sugar apple is grown only in the warmer regions of South Florida.
David Lee, Biological Sciences, Florida International University
UF/iFAS
Photos by Asir K. Ghosh
© Wunderlin, R. P., and B. F. Hansen. 2008. USF Atlas of Florida Vascular Plants
