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ANNONA CHERIMOLA - Cherimoya (U.S., Latin America), Custard Apple (U.K. and Commonwealth), Chirimoya, Chirimolla. |
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Related species: Ilama (Annona diversifolia), Pond Apple (A. glabra ), Manrito (A. jahnii). Mountain Soursop (A. montana ), Soursop (A. muricata), Soncoya (A. purpurea), Bullock's Heart (A. reticulata), Sugar Apple (Annona squamosa ), Atemoya (A. cherimolaXA. squamosa).
Distant affinity: Pawpaw (Asimina triloba), Biriba (Rollinia deliciosa ), Wild Sweetsop (R. mucosa), Keppel Apple (Stelechocarpus burakol ).
Origin: The cherimoya is believed to be native to the inter-andean valleys of Ecuador, Colombia and Peru. Seeds from Mexico were planted in California (Carpinteria) in 1871.
Adaptation:The cherimoya is subtropical or mild-temperate and will tolerate light frosts. Young growing tips are killed at 29 degrees F and and mature trees are killed or severely injured at 25 degrees F. If cherimoyas do not receive enough chilling, the trees will go dormant slowly and then experience delayed foliation. The amount of chilling needed is estimated to be between 50 and 100 hours. The tree grows well in the coastal and foothill areas of southern California, doing best at a slight elevation, 3 to 15 miles from ocean. It is worth attempting in sunny, south-facing, nearly frost-free locations from San Francisco Bay Area to Lompoc, and may survive to fruit in a very few protected Central Valley foothill locations from Chico to Arvin. Resentful of the excessive dry heat of the interior, it is not for the desert. Cherimoyas are not recommended for container culture.
DESCRIPTION
Growth Habit: The cherimoya is a fairly fairly dense, fast-growing, evergreen tree, briefly deciduous in California from February through April. The tree can reach 30 feet or more, but is fairly easily restrained. Young trees "harp," forming opposite branches as a natural espalier. These can be trained against a surface, or pruned off to form a regular free-standing trunk. Growth is in one long flush, beginning in April. The roots commence as taproot, but the slow-growing root system is rather weak, superficial, and ungreedy. Young plants need staking.
Foliage: The attractive leaves are single and alternate, 2 to 8 inches long and up to 4 inches wide. They are dark green on top and velvety green on the bottom, with prominent veins. New growth is recurved, like a fiddle-neck. Axillary buds are hidden beneath fleshy leaf petioles.
Flowers: The fragrant flowers are borne solitary or in groups of 2 or 3 on short, hairy stalks along the branches. They appear with new growth flushes, continuing as new growth proceeds and on old wood until midsummer. The flowers are made up of three fleshy, greenish-brown, oblong, downy outer petals and three smaller, pinkish inner petals. They are perfect but dichogamous, lasting approximately two days, and opening in two stages, first as female flowers for approximately 36 hours. and later as male flowers. The flower has a declining receptivity to pollen during the female stage and is unlikely to be pollinated by its own pollen in the male stage.
Fruits: The compound fruit is conical or somewhat heart-shaped, 4 to 8 inches long and up to 4 inches in width, weighing on the average 5-1/2 to 18 ounces, but the largest fruits may reach 5 pounds in weight. The skin, thin or thick, may be smooth with fingerprint-like markings or covered with conical or rounded protuberances. The sweet, juicy, white flesh is melting, subacid and very fragrant. The fruit is of a primitive form with spirally arranged carpels, resembling a raspberry. Each segment of flesh surrounds a single hard black bean-like seed. The fruit size is generally proportional to the number of seeds within. They ripen October to May.
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