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Annona muricata L.

Synonym	:	Annona bonplandiana Kunth
Family	:	Annonaceae
Local name	:	Malayalam- Mullanjakka English-Prickly Custard Apple
Flowering and fruiting period	:	April-October
Distribution	:	Native of Central America and West Indies, introduced elsewhere
Distribution in kerala	:	All Districts
Habitat	:	Cultivated
Endemic/Exotic	:	Exotic
Uses		Medicinal
Key Botanical Characters.  Trees, to 10 m high, bark pale brown; young twigs glabrescent. Leaves simple, alternate, distichous, estipulate; petiole slender, glabrous, grooved above; lamina elliptic, oblong, obovate, oblong-obovate, elliptic-oblong or elliptic-obovate, base acute, apex acute to acuminate, coriaceous, margin entire, lateral veins 8-10 pairs, slender, pinnate, prominent, intercostae reticulate, domatia present. Flowers yellowish-green, solitary, axillary or from mature branches; sepals 3, triangular, persistent; petals 6(3+3) ovate-acute, yellow, thick, glabrous, outer ones 2.5-3.5 x 2-2.5 cm, base cordate, apex acuminate, inner petals ca. 1.5 x 1 cm, shortly stipitate; stamens many, 4-5 mm long, linear, filaments broad at base, with capitate top of the connective; ovary superior, ca. 4 mm long, linear, slightly curved, strigose, style broad at base, stigma entire. Fruit ovoid to obovoid, 15-25 x 10-15 cm, green, covered with curved spines, stalks 2-3 cm long, stout; seeds many, reddish-brown.