Annona Species Monograph.pdf - Crops for the Future

Chapter 2. Taxonomy and Botany
Botanical Synonyms Common Other common names
amritaphala, seethaphala
(Kannada), aatoa, shariffa,
sitaphal (Hindi), ata, luna
(Bengali), sita pandu
(Tebgu), noina (Thai)
2.3 Botanical description
6
2.3.1 Description of the genus
The name annona derives from the Latin "annual harvest" (Lizana and
Reginato, 1990). The genus presents numerous unifying characteristics,
especially relating to plant height, root system, bark, stem, floral biology,
pollination, fruit set and fruit type (Ochse et al., 1974; Geurts, 1981; León,
1987). There are important variations among annona seedlings in the same
species, affecting not only the mature foliage and productivity of the plants,
but also the fruit size, form, colour, quality and number of seeds in the fruit.
These variations are often pronounced enough to have resulted in several
botanical names for the same species.
In general, the annonas are shrubs or small trees, whose height varies from 5
to 11 m depending on several factors, such as species, climate, soil and crop
management. They are erect or somewhat spreading in habit, with greybrown
bark, often rough and corrugated (León, 1987). Generally, annona
stems are ferruginous to greyish, and tomentose when young but later
becoming glabrous. With few exceptions, annonas are deciduous, even
tropical species, especially when cultivated in areas with dry or cool seasons
and without irrigation.
The root system has abundant thin lateral roots and a taproot that is not as
strong as in other tropical fruit trees, such as mango (Mangifera indica L.).
Although the taproot is not generally pronounced, the lighter the soil texture
the longer the taproot will grow. The taproot of an adult soursop tree can
reach approximately 1.5 to 1.8 m in depth in oxisols of the Cerrado
ecosystem (Brazilian savannah) in Central Brazil (Pinto and Silva, 1996).
Annona flowers are hermaphrodite, usually somewhat fragrant, solitary or in
fascicles with 2 to 4 flowers, with three green sepals and six petals arranged
into two verticils. The external verticil has three yellow-greenish petals and