Galapagos Species Database
The Galapagos Species Database shares the information about the species from our Natural History Collections.
Annona cherimola
chirimoya, cherimalla, cherimola, custard apple
Trees 3-7 m tall, deciduous. Branchlets tomentose, glabrescent. Axillary leaf buds ovoid, apex obtuse. Petiole 6-12 mm; leaf blade ovate, ovate-lanceolate, elliptic, obovate, or rarely orbicular, 5-25 × 2.5-10 cm, thinly papery, abaxially tomentose, adaxially pubescent, secondary veins 11-14 on each side of midvein and forming an angle from 60° to almost 90° with midvein, base rounded to obtuse and slightly decurrent onto petiole, apex obtuse to shortly acuminate. Inflorescences 1-3-flowered. Sepals ovate, 2-4 mm, outside tomentose, inside glabrous. Petals outside greenish yellow to reddish, inside yellowish to whitish and basally purple-spotted, linear-oblong, 1.5-3 cm, tomentose, apex obtuse; inner petals absent or reduced to minute scales (WFO, 2022).
It is used as a poison and a medicine and for food (POWO, 2022)
Domain
Eukaryota
Kingdom
Plantae
Phylum
Magnoliophyta
Class
Magnoliopsida (= Dicotyledoneae)
Order
Magnoliales
Family
Annonaceae
Genus
Annona
Species
cherimola
Taxon category: Accepted
Syn.: Annona pubescens Salisb. In Stewart (1911) as Anona cherimolia.
Origin: Introduced - established
Year of first record: 1906
Mode of introduction: Intentional
Introduction Pathway: Intentional
Subpathway: Agriculture/Horticulture
Introduced status: Naturalized
Invasive status: Potentially Invasive
Map of specimen collection localities or observation records for this species in our collections database.
Distribution: Its native range is W. South America (POWO, 2022)
- Wiggins, I.L. Porter, D.M. (1971) Flora of the Galapagos Islands Standford University Press, Stanford.
- Porter, D.M. (1983) Vascular Plants of the Galapagos: Origins and Dispersal. In: Bowman, R.I., Berson, M. & Leviton, A.E. (eds.): Patterns of evolution in Galápagos organisms. Pacific Division, AAAS, San Francisco, California, p. 33-96.
- Flores, E. (1985) Censo de Plantas Introducidas desde el Canal de Itabaca hasta Puerto Ayora. Tesis de Ingeniero Forestal, Univ. Técnica Luis Vargas Torres, Esmeraldas: 1-132.
- Chavez, J. (1993) Diagnostico de la Agricultura y la Ganader¡a en la Provincia de Galapagos. Tesis.
- Lundh, J.P. (1995) Some additional information and comments on the Annotated Check list of Vascular Plants of the Galapagos Islands by Lawesson, Adsersen and Bentley. Charles Darwin Research Station, unpublished.
- Tropicos.org. (2017) Database of Missouri Botanical Garden. Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden. 06 Oct 2017 <http://www.tropicos.org
- Stewart, A. (1911) A botanical survey of the Galápagos Islands. Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 4th Series, 1: 7-288.
- Quintana, M.C. (2010) Wild plants in the dry valleys around Quito-Ecuador. Publicaciones del Herbario QCA, PUCE. Quito-Ecuador, 266 pp.
- Guézou, A. Trueman, M., Buddenhagen, E., Chamorro, S., Guerrero, A.M., Pozo, P., Atkinson, R. (2010) An extensive Alien Plan Inventory from the Inhabited Areas of Galapagos Plos One/ www.plosone.org. Volume 5/ Issue 4/e10276
- Lawesson, J.E. (1987) Plantas exóticas en las Islas Galápagos, un resumen. Memorias. Taller sobre investigación Botánica y manejo en Galápagos. Pg. 17-23.
You are welcome to download and use the information found in this page, acknowledging its source.
This page should be cited as follows:
"Galapagos Species Database, Annona cherimola", dataZone. Charles Darwin Foundation, https://datazone.darwinfoundation.org/en/checklist/?species=182. Accessed 7 May 2025.