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)
- Chavez, J. (1993) Diagnostico de la Agricultura y la Ganader¡a en la Provincia de Galapagos. Tesis.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Quintana, M.C. (2010) Wild plants in the dry valleys around Quito-Ecuador. Publicaciones del Herbario QCA, PUCE. Quito-Ecuador, 266 pp.
- Stewart, A. (1911) A botanical survey of the Galápagos Islands. Proc. Calif. Acad. Sci. 4th Series, 1: 7-288.
- Tropicos.org. (2017) Database of Missouri Botanical Garden. Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden. 06 Oct 2017 <http://www.tropicos.org
- Wiggins, I.L. Porter, D.M. (1971) Flora of the Galapagos Islands Standford University Press, Stanford.
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 18 October 2026.