Annona muricata L.

മുള്ളാത്തി

Family : ANNONACEAE

Synonym : Annona bonplandiana Kunth

Common Names : Cancer chakka, Mullanjakka, Mulluathi, Mullathi, Soursop, Guanabana, Graviola, Prickly Custard Apple

Flowering Period : April-October

Distribution : Native of Central America and West Indies, introduced elsewhere

Habitat : Cultivated

Uses : Fruits edible, anti-cancerous. Extraction from leaves is lethal to head lice and bedbugs. When grinded, the seeds are effective pesticides against head lice. The juice of the fruit is said to be able to increase the amount of urine, and treat urethritis and haematuria. Immature fruits are grinded and decocted as a treat for dysentery.

Key Characters :

Trees, to 10 m high, bark pale brown; young twigs glabrescent. Leaves simple, alternate, distichous, estipulate; petiole 4-8 mm long, slender, glabrous, grooved above; lamina 7-14.5 x 3-5.5 cm, 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, ca. 1.5 cm long.