CUSTARD APPLE, a name applied to the fruit of various species of the genus Anona, natural order Anonaceae. The members of this genus are shrubs or small trees having alternate, exstipulate leaves, and flowers with three small sepals, six petals arranged in a double row, and numerous stamens. The fruit of A. reticulata, the common custard apple, or “bullock’s heart” of the West Indies, is dark brown in colour, and marked with depressions, which give it a quilted appearance; its pulp is reddish-yellow, sweetish, and very soft; the kernels of the seeds are said to be poisonous. The sour-sop, the fruit of A. muricata, grows in the West Indies, and in the neighbourhood of Bombay; it is covered with soft prickles, is of a light-greenish hue, and has a peculiar but agreeable sour taste, and a scent resembling that of black currants. The sweet-sop, which is cultivated in both the Indies, is produced by A. squamosa; it is an ovate fruit, with a thick rind and luscious pulp. According to Royle, an acrid principle, fatal to insects, is contained in its seeds, which, powdered and mixed with the flour of gram (deer arietinum), are used by the natives of India in washing the hair. A. Cherimolia furnishes the Peruvian Cherimoyer, which is held to be of very superior flavour, and is much esteemed by the Creoles. A. palustris is valued in Jamaica for its wood, which serves the same purposes as cork; the fruit, commonly known as the alligator-apple, is not eaten, being reputed to contain a dangerous narcotic principle.