Annona reticulata

Custard ( Annona reticulata )

The Custard ( Annona reticulata ) or the ox heart is a species of the family Annonengewächse ( Annonaceae ). It is native to the tropical hills of America, but now grows in other tropical regions of the world that have a sub-tropical climate due to its high altitude. It can be found for example in South Florida, India, Pakistan and Thailand, where it is also known under the name of Buddha fruit or Sharifa. In Suriname it is kasjoema called.

Description

Custard are trees with a height of up to 8 meters. There are two to ten bushy flowers with fruit-bearing flower stems up to 3.5 inches long by their young branches. The ovary grow into a heart, oval or spherical structure that normally is 7.5 times 7 to 10.5 by 8 inches tall; in individual cases, but also sizes up to twelve times ten centimeters reached. The leather-like, thin outermost part of the epidermis, the exocarp is soft and turns in the maturation process reddish to reddish brown. The somewhat mealy sweet flesh is cream-colored to grayish white. The dark brown seeds are elongated.