Annonaceae
How to identify a sugar apple tree
Annona squamosa · also called sweetsop, anón (Spanish), mãng cầu ta (Vietnamese)
Bumpy, segmented skin that separates into custardy, sweet, seedy segments. One of the quickest tropical fruit trees to bear from seed on this list.
Field marks
These features are typical of the genus Annona, so they help confirm you are looking at the right group; the fruit and the details below separate the species.
- Leaves are simple and arranged alternately in two flat rows along the twig.
- Flowers usually have thick, fleshy, roughly triangular petals.
- The fruit is an aggregate of many fused segments: knobby in sugar apple, green with soft curved spines in soursop.
Check a photo
Photograph one whole, mature leaf from above, or a flower or fruit, and the identifier will return ranked matches. If sugar apple is the top result, the field marks above are your second opinion.
Leaves, flowers, fruit, or bark — closer and sharper identifies better. Your photo is identified and discarded, never stored.
Where and when you will find it
- Origin / cultivation history
- Tropical Americas, very widely naturalized across the Old World tropics historically
- USDA zones
- 10-11
- Climate
- Tropical, more drought-tolerant than soursop; benefits from a dry season to trigger bloom.
- Fruiting season
- August, September and October (typical, Northern Hemisphere)
- How often grown
- Widely grown
Fruit is the most reliable way to confirm an identification, so August, September and October is the easiest window. Outside it, rely on the leaves and the overall habit. A tree growing well outside the climate above is more likely to be a look-alike.
Growing it: seedling or grafted?
A young tree with no fruit is harder to identify and easy to mislabel, so it helps to know how long it takes to reach fruiting age and how it is usually propagated.
- Years to first fruit
- Seedling 2-4 yrs
- Propagation
- Seed (one of the fastest-fruiting Annona species from seed); grafting for named types.
Relatives in the Annonaceae family
Close relatives share many features, so these are the most likely mix-ups.
- CherimoyaAnnona cherimola
- AtemoyaAnnona × atemoya
- SoursopAnnona muricata
- Custard appleAnnona reticulata
- BiribaAnnona mucosa
Map your sugar apple trees
CanopyTwin keeps every tree on a map with its species, cultivar, photos and history, and counts flowers and fruit from survey photos. It is built for orchards, nurseries and collectors of tropical and rare fruit.
More identification guides: free plant identifier · tropical fruit tree identifier · fruit tree identifier · all species guides