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Annona reticulata L.

Synonym                    : Annona excels Kunth

Family                        : Annonaceae

Local Names              : Aatha, Custard apple, Bullock's heart 

Flowering and fruiting period: August – May  

Distribution: Native of Central America and West Indies

Habitat: Cultivated and often naturalised

IUCN status: Data deficient

Endemic: Yes

Uses: Fruits edible. The leaves are used internally against worms, and externally to treat abscesses. Crushed leaves or a paste of the flesh may be poulticed on boils, abscesses and ulcers. Unripe fruits and the bark are rich in tannin. They are used to treat diarrhoea and dysentery. In severe cases, the leaves, bark and green fruits are all boiled together for 5 minutes in a litre of water to make an exceedingly potent decoction. Fragments of the root bark are put around the gums to relieve toothache. The root decoction is taken as a febrifuge. The finely grated stem bark is placed on the area of an enlarged spleen. A concentrated extract of the see is employed to remedy dysentery and diarrhoea

Key Characters: Trees, to 8 m high; bark pale brown. Leaves simple, alternate; lamina, ovate-lanceolate, oblong, margin entire. Flowers bisexual, green, several from internodal cymes; sepals 3; petals 3 + 3; stamens many; carpels many. Fruit an aggregate of berry, spherical or ovoid, yellowish-red; pulp yellowish; seeds black-brown.