The open plant encyclopedia
Snap a photo or search by any name to see how to care for it, where it comes from, whether it's safe, and a 3D model you can turn.
The plants people record most in your country, and ones that grow there wild.
Filter by what you want to do, shape, origin, country, care and safety.
Annona glabra
Also called Alligator Apple, Kaitambu, Kaitambo, Uto ni bulumakau, Uto ni mbulumakau, Corossolier des marais, Annone des marais
Pond apple (Annona glabra) is a tropical swamp-loving tree in the custard apple family, grown mainly for its edible fruit and as rootstock. It is best suited to wet or waterlogged sites, as it cannot grow in dry soil.
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. The tree is native to Florida in the United States, the Caribbean, Central and South America, and West Africa. 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.
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. 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.
Unlike the other Annona species, the pulp of the fruit when ripe is yellow through orange instead of whitish.
Cherimoya · Annona coriacea · Fleshyflower Annona · Wild cherimoya of Jalisco · Ilama · Mountain soursop · Sugar Apple · Soursop · Annona nutans · Annona paludosa · Annona · Custard apple
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Annona glabra by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
