Annona glabra

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Annona glabra
PondappleFL.jpg
Fruit
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Magnoliids
Order: Magnoliales
Family: Annonaceae
Genus: Annona
Species:
A. glabra
Binomial name
Annona glabra
L.

Annona glabra is a tropical fruit tree in the family Annonaceae, in the same genus as the soursop and cherimoya. Common names include pond apple, alligator apple (so called because American alligators often eat the fruit), swamp apple, corkwood, bobwood, and monkey apple. [2] The tree is native to Florida in the United States, the Caribbean, Central and South America, and West Africa. [3] It is common in the Everglades. The A. glabra tree is considered an invasive species in Sri Lanka and Australia. It grows in swamps, is tolerant of saltwater, and cannot grow in dry soil.

Contents

Description

The trees grow to up to 12 m. They have narrow, gray trunks and sometimes grow in clumps. The leaves are ovate to oblong, each with an acute tip, 8–15 cm long and 4–6 cm broad with a prominent midrib. The upper surface is light to dark green. Leaves of the A. glabra are said to have a distinct smell, similar to green apples, that can distinguish it from mangroves. [4] The fruit is oblong through spherical and apple-sized or larger, 7–15 cm long and up to 9 cm diameter, and falls when it is green or ripening yellowish. It disperses by floating to new locations, and it is food for many animal species such as wild boar. Reproduction begins around two years of age. A fruit contains 100 or more convex, light yellow-brown seeds, about 1 cm long. [5] A. glabra flowers have a short life-span, and have a diameter of 2–3 cm. The flowers have three outer petals as well as three inner petals. Compared to the pale yellow or cream color of the petals, the inner base of the A. glabra flower is a bright red. [4] Its pollen is shed as permanent tetrads. [6]

Ecology

A. glabra thrives in wet environments. The seeds and fruit of this plant can be dispersed during wet seasons where they fall into swamps and rivers. This allows the seeds and fruits to spread to coastlines. A 2008 study found that A. glabra seeds can withstand floating in salt water and fresh water for up to 12 months. About 38% of those seeds can then germinate in soil, though A. glabra roots do not do well with constant flooding. [7] Another study in 1998 found that even under intense flooding, the 12-month lifespan of A. glabra seedlings was unaffected; the growth rate of A. glabra trees did decrease however over a 6-month period. Compared to other Annona seeds and trees, the A. glabra is still more resilient to instances of flooding. [8]

Uses

Unlike the other Annona species, the pulp of the fruit when ripe is yellow through orange instead of whitish. [9] The fruit is edible for humans and its taste is reminiscent of ripe Honeydew melon. It can be made into jam, and it is a popular ingredient of fresh fruit drinks in Maldives. In the past, the seeds were crushed and cooked in coconut oil and applied to hair to get rid of lice [10]

The flesh is sweet-scented and agreeable in flavor, but it has never attained general popular use unlike soursop and other related fruits. Experiments in South Florida have been conducted to use it as a superior rootstock for sugar-apple or soursop. While the grafts initially appear to be effective, a high percentage of them typically fail over time. Soursop on pond-apple rootstock has a dwarfing effect.

Recent research suggests that its alcoholic seed extract contains anticancer compounds that could be used pharmaceutically. [11]

Invasive species

It is a very troublesome invasive species in northern Queensland in Australia and Sri Lanka, where it grows in estuaries and chokes mangrove swamps. The A. glabra tree was introduced to North Queensland sometime around 1912 as both a rootstock for similar Annona species such as Annona atemoya, the custard apple. [12] A. glabra seedlings carpet the banks and prevent other species from germinating or thriving. It also affects farms as it grows along fencelines and farm drains. It also invades and transforms undisturbed areas. [13] This can be observed in the case of Australia’s Eubenangee Swamp National Park where an outbreak occurred due to poor wetland management. [4]

In Australia, A. glabra seeds can be spread by the southern cassowary. Seeds of the fruit have been found in cassowary dung with dispersal distances of up to 5212 m recorded in one 2008 study in the journal Diversity and Distributions. [14] The southern cassowary itself however is an endangered species in Australia. According to the Australian government’s Department of the Environment and Energy, there is only around 20-25% of cassowary habitat remaining. Additionally, part of the government’s recovery plan includes actions towards establishing nurseries filled with plants that the cassowary consumes. [15] Because the A. glabra is among the foods eaten by southern cassowary, revegetation may be necessary to ensure that cassowary have alternative food sources available. When the A. glabra population is controlled, natural vegetation can regenerate without human intervention. [4]

Because of its impact on the environment as an invasive weed, the Australian government classifies the A. glabra as a Weed of National Significance (WONS). [16] Additionally, the A. glabra was considered the highest ranked species in 2003 in a Wet Tropics bioregion weed risk assessment. [12] In Sri Lanka it was introduced as a grafting stock for custard apples and spread into wetlands around Colombo. [5]

Control strategies

Australia

The Australian government views the A. glabra as a weed, and as such offers through its Department of the Environment and Energy a control plan created in 2001 for citizens that aims at eliminating the A. glabra by 20 years. The plan includes six steps that property owners can take to determine how to control and monitor an outbreak of A. glabra as well as how to minimize financial damage. To disincentivize the cultivation and spread of A. glabra by humans, its sale and entry is banned throughout most of Australia. [4]

Options for the control of the A. glabra include fire, chemical, and mechanical controls including combinations of the three types. The best time of year to do so according to the government of Australia is during the time between August and November, which is the dry season. There are currently no studies that have looked at the biological control of A. glabra within Australia. Without studies, any actions taken to eliminate the A. glabra with biological controls could inadvertently affect native Australian apple species that belong to the same family. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Weed control</span> Botanical component of pest control for plants

Weed control is a type of pest control, which attempts to stop or reduce growth of weeds, especially noxious weeds, with the aim of reducing their competition with desired flora and fauna including domesticated plants and livestock, and in natural settings preventing non native species competing with native species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soursop</span> Species of plant

Soursop is the fruit of Annona muricata, a broadleaf, flowering, evergreen tree. It is native to the tropical regions of the Americas and the Caribbean and is widely propagated. It is in the same genus, Annona, as cherimoya and is in the Annonaceae family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cherimoya</span> Edible fruit-bearing species of the genus Annona

The cherimoya, also spelled chirimoya and called chirimuya by the Inca people, is a species of edible fruit-bearing plant in the genus Annona, from the family Annonaceae, which includes the closely related sweetsop and soursop. The plant has long been believed to be native to Ecuador and Peru, with cultivation practised in the Andes and Central America, although a recent hypothesis postulates Central America as the origin instead, because many of the plant's wild relatives occur in this area.

<i>Annona</i> Genus of fruits and plants

Annona is a genus of flowering plants in the pawpaw/sugar apple family, Annonaceae. It is the second largest genus in the family after Guatteria, containing approximately 166 species of mostly Neotropical and Afrotropical trees and shrubs.

<i>Alternanthera philoxeroides</i> Species of aquatic plant

Alternanthera philoxeroides, commonly referred to as alligator weed, is a native species to the temperate regions of South America, which includes Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Argentina alone hosts around 27 species that fall within the range of the genus Alternanthera. Its geographic range once covered only the Parana River region of South America, but it has since expanded, having been introduced to over 30 countries, such as the United States, Japan, China, Australia, New Zealand and many more. This invasive species is believed to have been accidentally introduced to these non-native regions through sediments trapped by, or attached to, tanks and cargo of ships travelling from South America to these various areas.

<i>Annona reticulata</i> Species of tree

Annona reticulata is a small deciduous or semi-evergreen tree in the plant family Annonaceae. It is best known for its fruit, called custard apple, a common name shared with fruits of several other species in the same genus: A. cherimola and A. squamosa. Other English common names include ox heart and bullock's heart. The fruit is sweet and useful in preparation of desserts, but is generally less popular for eating than that of A. cherimola.

<i>Annona squamosa</i> Species of tree

Annona squamosa is a small, well-branched tree or shrub from the family Annonaceae that bears edible fruits called sugar apples or sweetsops. It tolerates a tropical lowland climate better than its relatives Annona reticulata and Annona cherimola helping make it the most widely cultivated of these species. Annona squamosa is a small, semi-(or late) deciduous, much-branched shrub or small tree 3 to 8 metres tall similar to soursop. It is a native of tropical climate in the Americas and West Indies, and Spanish traders aboard the Manila galleons docking in the Philippines brought it to Asia.

<i>Ziziphus mauritiana</i> Species of plant

Ziziphus mauritiana, also known as Indian jujube, Indian plum, Chinese date, Chinese apple, ber and dunks is a tropical fruit tree species belonging to the family Rhamnaceae. It is often confused with the closely related Chinese jujube, but whereas Z. jujuba prefers temperate climates, Z. mauritiana is tropical to subtropical.

<i>Passiflora tarminiana</i> Species of plant

Passiflora tarminiana is a species of passionfruit. The yellow fruits are edible and their resemblance to small, straight bananas has given it the name banana passionfruit in some countries. It is native to the uplands of tropical South America and is now cultivated in many countries. In Hawaii and New Zealand it is now considered an invasive species. It was given the name banana passionfruit in New Zealand, where passionfruit are also prevalent. In Hawaii, it is called banana poka. In its Latin American homeland, it is known as curuba, curuba de Castilla, or curuba sabanera blanca (Colombia); taxo, tacso, tagso, tauso (Ecuador); parcha, taxo (Venezuela), tumbo or curuba (Bolivia); tacso, tumbo, tumbo del norte, trompos, tintin, porocsho or purpur (Peru).

<i>Osteospermum moniliferum</i> Species of plant

Osteospermum moniliferum is an evergreen flowering shrub or small tree in the daisy family, Asteraceae. It is native to southern Africa, ranging through South Africa and Lesotho to Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

<i>Mimosa pigra</i> Species of plant

Mimosa pigra, commonly known as the giant sensitive tree, is a species of plant of the genus Mimosa, in the family Fabaceae.

<i>Tipuana</i> Genus of legumes

Tipuana tipu, also known as tipa, rosewood and pride of Bolivia, is a South American tree.

<i>Lachenalia reflexa</i> Species of flowering plant

Lachenalia reflexa is species of the genus Lachenalia endemic to lowland areas near Cape Town, South Africa.

<i>Annona montana</i> Species of tree

Annona montana, the mountain soursop, is a tree and its edible fruit in the Annonaceae family native to Central America, the Amazon, and islands in the Caribbean. It has fibrous fruits. A. montana may be used as a rootstock for cultivated Annonas.

<i>Rollinia deliciosa</i> Species of tropical fruit plant

Annona mucosa is a species of flowering plant in the custard-apple family, Annonaceae, that is native to tropical South America. It is cultivated for its edible fruits, commonly known as biribá, lemon meringue pie fruit, or wild sugar-apple, throughout the world's tropics and subtropics.

<i>Annona senegalensis</i> Species of plant

Annona senegalensis, commonly known as African custard-apple, wild custard apple, wild soursop, abo ibobo, sunkungo, and dorgot is a species of flowering plant in the custard apple family, Annonaceae. The specific epithet, senegalensis, translates to mean "of Senegal", the country where the type specimen was collected.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Weed</span> Plant considered undesirable in a particular place or situation

A weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation, growing where it conflicts with human preferences, needs, or goals. Plants with characteristics that make them hazardous, aesthetically unappealing, difficult to control in managed environments, or otherwise unwanted in farm land, orchards, gardens, lawns, parks, recreational spaces, residential and industrial areas, may all be considered weeds. The concept of weeds is particularly significant in agriculture, where the presence of weeds in fields used to grow crops may cause major losses in yields. Invasive species, plants introduced to an environment where their presence negatively impacts the overall functioning and biodiversity of the ecosystem, may also sometimes be considered weeds.

<i>Solanum tampicense</i> Species of flowering plant

Solanum tampicense, also known as wetland nightshade, aquatic soda apple, and scrambling nightshade, is a perennial in the Solanaceae or Nightshade Family. It can exist as a vine, tree, or shrub and is native to the West Indies and Central America. It is classified as a noxious weed by the United States Department of Agriculture and by several states and is known as an invasive species in the state of Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cypress dome</span> Swamp dominated by pond or bald cypress

A cypress dome is a type of freshwater forested wetland, or a swamp, found in the southeastern part of the United States. They are dominated by the Taxodium spp., either the bald cypress, or pond cypress. The name comes from the dome-like shape of treetops, formed by smaller trees growing on the edge where the water is shallow while taller trees grow at the center in deeper water. They usually appear as circular, but if the center is too deep, they form a “doughnut” shape when viewed from above. Cypress domes are characteristically small compared to other swamps, however they can occur at a range of sizes, dependent on the depth.

References

PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Ward, Artemas (1911). "Alligator Apple". The Grocer's Encyclopedia .

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  2. Standley, Paul C. (1922). "Trees and Shrubs of Mexico". United States National Herbarium. 23 (2): 281–282.
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  9. Annona glabra fruit Archived February 18, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
  10. FAO Trees and shrubs of the Maldives
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  13. ”Pond apple (Annona glabra) weed management guide”, Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, Canberra, at http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/invasive/weeds/publications/guidelines/wons/pubs/a-glabra.pdf
  14. Wescott, David A. (2008). "Cassowary dispersal of the invasive pond apple in a tropical rainforest: the contribution of subordinate dispersal modes in invasion". Diversity and Distributions. 14 (2): 432–439. Bibcode:2008DivDi..14..432W. doi: 10.1111/j.1472-4642.2007.00416.x . S2CID   85871792.
  15. "The Southern Cassowary". Department of the Environment and Heritage.
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