When I started working at Incredible Edible Landscapes, there was one whole section of the nursery that intimidated me more than any other:

The Annonas.  

Sugar apple. Soursop. Custard apple. Atemoya. Cherilata. Temoylata.

This one is crossed with that one. That hybrid gets crossed back with something else. Half of them look like dinosaur eggs. Several have the word apple in their names despite having nothing to do with apples.

I can keep mango varieties straight all day long. Annonas? I needed a family tree and possibly a flow chart.

If you've ever felt the same way, this is for you.  And if you're already the person grafting rare Annona cultivars in your backyard and arguing about fruit texture with other collectors online, stay with me, because this family gets wonderfully weird.

First: What Exactly Is an Annona?

Let's clear up the terminology before we go any farther.

Annonaceae is the botanical family.

Annona is a genus within that family containing roughly 170 accepted species. Some of the best-known edible members include sugar apple, cherimoya, soursop, custard apple, ilama and several fruits historically known as Rollinia.

And then humans looked at all of those already-delicious fruits and said:

You know what would be fun? Breeding them.

That's where things like Atemoya, Cherilata and Temoylata enter the chat.

So before we talk about individual varieties, here's the family tree I desperately needed when I first started learning this stuff:

A Few Important Family Members We Don't Sell 

One quick note before we start eating our way through the family tree: not every Annona on this chart is something we currently grow or sell at Incredible Edible Landscapes.  I included a few because you can't really understand the Annona family without them.

Cherimoya (Annona cherimola) is the most important example. We don't currently sell Cherimoya trees because South Florida isn't really their ideal climate—Cherimoya prefers cooler subtropical conditions and has historically struggled to fruit well in our heat. However, it still does make a good rootstock for Florida conditions.  Despite its unwillingness to fruit prolifically in Florida, the Cherimoya offers some of the finest fruit of all the Annonas, and thrives in the highlands of South America, and even in California.  Even if there isn't a Cherimoya tree sitting in our retail nursery, its genetics are all over the Annonas that are.

Then there are Pond Apple (Annona glabra) and Mountain Soursop (Annona montana).  Pond Apple is especially interesting here in Florida because it's actually native to the state. It naturally grows in wet areas and is remarkably tolerant of flooding and brackish conditions. The fruit is edible, but unlike the dessert-quality Annonas we're usually getting excited about, Pond Apple is much more interesting horticulturally than gastronomically. It has also been studied and used as a flood-tolerant rootstock for other Annona species.  Mountain Soursop is a tropical relative of the Soursop we sell. Its fruit resembles Soursop but is generally considered much lower quality for eating, and historically it has been grown more as an ornamental or rootstock than as a prized fruit tree.

Sugarlata is another hybrid worth knowing, even though we don’t currently offer it for sale. It’s a new cross between Sugar Apple (Annona squamosa) and Custard Apple (Annona reticulata), combining two of the major species in the Annona family and helping round out the family tree shown above.  We hope to have a good Sugarlata selection available soon, once the breeders' selections reach propagative success.

Why Do People Get So Obsessed With Annonas?

You could look at photos of most Annona fruits and reasonably wonder who decided to eat one first.

They're bumpy. Scaly. Sometimes spiky. Sometimes purple. Sometimes green. Often, they look like something that should hatch rather than something you should cut open with a knife.

But inside is an entirely different story.

The Annona family is known for soft, sweet, dessert-like fruit with flavors and textures that can range from custardy and juicy to surprisingly firm and chewy. Across the collection at Incredible Edible Landscapes, you'll hear flavor descriptions like bubble gum, lemon meringue pie, raspberry cheesecake, pineapple, strawberry and pear.

Once people discover them, they tend to get opinionated very quickly.

My coworker Maurice grew up in Jamaica, and of every tropical fruit we grow here, Sugar Apple is his number-one favorite fruit.

I get it now.  But my favorite Annona—so far—is the Cherilata.  And I am very particular about why.

 

My Favorite: Cherilata  

The Cherilata is a hybrid between Cherimoya and Custard Apple. I would describe it as combining the berries-and-cream flavor of Custard Apple with the firmer, chewier texture inherited from Cherimoya.

That texture is exactly what gets me.

I prefer the Annona fruits that are a little drier and chewier rather than completely soft and custardy. But my absolute favorite part of a Cherilata is right next to the skin, where the flesh develops this very slight sugary grittiness.

You know the little bit of undissolved sugar sitting at the bottom of an iced coffee?

That.

I am obsessed with it.

The berry flavor is concentrated, the texture has some resistance to it, and then you get that tiny sugary crunch right along the skin.

If all Annonas were completely foreign to me a few years ago, Cherilata is the fruit that turned me into someone who now understands why collectors end up with an entire section of their property devoted to this family.

And, naturally, once you like one Annona, you start wondering about all the others.

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Sugar Apple: The Classic

Sugar Apple — Annona squamosa — is one of the best places to begin understanding the family.

It's also called sweetsop, anon, or atis in different places, and the common-name situation is part of what makes Annonas so confusing internationally. Sugar Apple is described as a widely planted tropical fruit whose creamy white flesh has a custard-like consistency and very sweet flavor.

Maurice doesn't need the botanical explanation.  To him, they're simply the best fruit.

A ripe Sugar Apple is made up of individual fleshy segments, usually surrounding glossy black seeds. It's unapologetically sweet, soft and floral—the kind of fruit that makes the name Sugar Apple feel entirely appropriate.

If you want: intensely sweet, soft, classic Annona flavor, Sugar Apple is a very good place to start.

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Atemoya: Where the Family Tree Starts Getting Interesting

Now take:  Sugar Apple + Cherimoya = Atemoya.

This isn't just nursery folklore. Atemoya is the recognized hybrid of Annona squamosa and Annona cherimola. It is particularly well suited to South Florida and is of excellent fruit quality and greater cold tolerance relative to some tropical Annona relatives.

And this is where I personally started falling farther down the Annona rabbit hole.  I've added several atemoyas to my own collection.

The texture appeals to me because it is firmer and chewier than a Sugar Apple while still sweet and juicy. We describe atemoya flavor as floral and slightly acidic, with notes that suggest pineapple, strawberry and pear—but like most really interesting tropical fruits, it doesn't taste exactly like anything else.

Atemoya is also where choosing a cultivar becomes part of the fun.

Our collection at Incredible Edible Landscapes includes Geffner, Priestly, Lisa, Paige, African Pride, and Phet Pak Chong (PPC).

And they aren't all interchangeable.

For example, Geffner is one of our most reliable producers and can set good crops without hand pollination. Lisa is a stunning pink color with a flavor of berries on top of the standard Atemoya flavor.  Phet Pak Chong, or PPC, is a highly regarded Thai selection with large fruit and a more compact growth habit. And Dream is one of the rare cultivars in our collection, prized for excellent flavor and texture.

So if you're already an Annona person, this is where the conversation stops being: Do you like atemoya?  and becomes Okay, but which atemoya?

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Custard Apple: The Decadent One

And now we meet another major branch of the family:

Custard Apple — Annona reticulata.

This is a different species from Sugar Apple despite the fact that common names get thrown around so loosely that you will absolutely see one called the other depending on where you are.

For example, in Cuba, Annona reticulata may be referred to as chirimoya, even though botanically it is not the same fruit as the true Cherimoya, Annona cherimola.

Our description for a good red Custard Apple is basically: raspberry cheesecake.  That's not hyperbole I particularly want to improve upon.

The fruit can be large, rich and dense, with red or purplish skin and creamy flesh that may show pink or reddish coloration.

If you like your fruit decadent enough to feel like dessert, put Custard Apple on your list.

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Cherilata: Cherimoya + Custard Apple

Now that you know those parents, Cherilata makes much more sense.

Cherimoya + Custard Apple = Cherilata.

Instead of memorizing another bizarre fruit name, you can almost read the parentage right in the word:

Cherimoya + Annona reticulata (Custard Apple).

Okay, plant breeders may not always make things simple, but occasionally they throw us a bone.

Cherilata combines that dense berry-dessert characteristic of Custard Apple with the firmer texture of Cherimoya. It can ripen in late summer or early fall and sometimes again in spring under South Florida conditions.

And if you've been reading carefully, you already know where I stand:

If you're asking me which Annona to taste first, I'm definitely handing you a Cherilata.

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Temoylata: Now We're Really Nerding Out

Okay, collectors. This one is for you.

Remember: Sugar Apple + Cherimoya = Atemoya.

Now take that Atemoya and cross it with a Custard Apple.  Atemoya + Custard Apple = Temoylata.

Which means this fruit contains genetics from: Sugar Apple + Cherimoya + Custard Apple.

The Temoylata we grow is 47-18, commonly circulated under names including Red Geffner and Red Atemoya, although those names aren't technically accurate because the fruit isn't simply an atemoya.

Its parents are the Geffner Atemoya and San Pablo Custard Apple, and  is traced to Annona breeder Har Mahdeem's work in the Zill breeding projects during the 1990s. The selection survived largely because collectors preserved and shared its budwood after it never received a formal commercial name.

This is the part of tropical-fruit growing I find fascinating.

Someone makes a cross. One seedling turns out to be special. A few collectors keep it alive. Decades later, you're standing in our nursery in Loxahatchee buying a grafted tree whose "name" is basically its old field number.

Fruit nerd history.

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Soursop: The One You Might Already Know

If the word Annona means nothing to you, there's still a decent chance you've heard of Soursop.

You may also know it as guanábana.

Botanically, it's Annona muricata, which puts it right in the same genus as Sugar Apple, Cherimoya and Custard Apple.

But the eating experience is very different.

Instead of a segmented, scaly Sugar Apple-type fruit, Soursop produces a much larger green fruit covered in soft spines. The flesh is juicy and fibrous, with the sweet-tart tropical flavor that makes it especially popular for juices, smoothies and milkshakes.

If your experience with Annonas comes from Caribbean or Latin American food culture, Soursop may actually be the member of the family you already know best.

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Rollinia: Surprise—It's an Annona Too

Here's a fun one for people who already know tropical fruit.

We've all called it Rollinia for years.  You'll also hear biribá.

And its fruit is ridiculous-looking even by Annona standards—yellow when ripe, covered in soft pointed bumps, with delicate pulp that we compare to lemon meringue pie.

But botanically, there's been a change.

What was long called Rollinia deliciosa or Rollinia mucosa is now accepted as Annona mucosa. The old genus Rollinia has been merged into Annona. UF/IFAS now specifically lists the scientific name as Annona mucosa while acknowledging the older Rollinia names.

So yes: Rollinia is an Annona.

If you were already confused, I apologize on behalf of botanical taxonomy.  The upside is that now the family resemblance makes even more sense.

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Ilama: For the Collector Who Likes a Challenge

Then there's Ilama.

This is where we move away from beginner-friendly recommendations and into:  I have enough fruit trees already, but I want something weird.

Ilama is considered one of the more challenging Annonas to grow successfully in Florida. It's better adapted to its native Central American conditions and tends not to be particularly productive here. But the fruit is spectacular: a thick shell that cracks naturally as it reaches maturity, revealing flesh that can range from white to magenta with a berries-and-cream character.

There's even a little botanical-name nerdiness here: our existing nursery listing uses the long-standing name Annona diversifolia, while current Kew taxonomy treats that name as a synonym of Annona macroprophyllata.

Do you need to know that to enjoy the fruit? Absolutely not.

Will an Annona collector enjoy knowing it? Absolutely.

Our own recommendation for many South Florida growers interested in this type of fruit is actually to consider Cherilata first: similar dessert-fruit appeal, but generally easier to grow and fruit here.

Ilama is the tree you grow partly because you want the Ilama—and partly because you enjoy the challenge.

So Which Annona Should You Grow?

This is the question I wish someone had answered for me when all these names were still swimming around in my head.

You don't have to understand every hybrid before choosing one.

Start with the eating experience you want.

If you want intensely sweet, soft and classic:
Start with a Sugar Apple.

If you want a little more chew and complexity:
Look at an Atemoya.

If you want rich, dense, berry-dessert flavor:
Try a Custard Apple.

If you want the firmer texture and berry flavor that completely converted me:
I'm pointing you toward Cherilata.

If you want a large, juicy, sweet and tart fruit for fresh eating, smoothies and drinks:
Look at Soursop.

If “lemon meringue pie growing on a tree” sounds like something you need to investigate:
That's Rollinia.

If you already have several Annonas and want something rare and challenging:
Welcome to Ilama.

And if you're the person who read the entire hybrid family tree and thought, “Wait, tell me more about that three-species cross”:
You, my friend, are ready for a Temoylata.

A Quick Annona Cheat Sheet

Fruit	What Is It?	Parentage / Species	Why You Might Want It
Sugar Apple	Species	Annona squamosa	Very sweet, soft, floral, classic
Cherimoya	Species	Annona cherimola	Creamy, complex; important parent in hybrids
Custard Apple	Species	Annona reticulata	Dense, rich, berry-dessert flavor
Soursop	Species	Annona muricata	Large, juicy, sweet-tart tropical fruit
Rollinia / Biribá	Species	Annona mucosa	Delicate texture; lemon-meringue character
Ilama	Species	Annona macroprophyllata	Rare collector fruit; berries-and-cream character
Atemoya	Hybrid	Sugar Apple × Cherimoya	Sweet, chewy, excellent South Florida option
Cherilata	Hybrid	Cherimoya × Custard Apple	Firm, chewy, concentrated berry-dessert flavor
Temoylata	Complex hybrid	Atemoya × Custard Apple	Three-species genetics and serious fruit-nerd credibility

Once you can see it laid out like that, the Annona family stops feeling quite so intimidating.

Mostly.

Welcome to the Rabbit Hole

I started working at Incredible Edible Landscapes thinking Annonas were the most confusing fruit trees in the nursery.

Now I have several growing at my own farm, strong opinions about fruit texture, an obsession with the gritty sugary part of a Cherilata right next to the skin, and the ability to explain why a Temoylata technically has three different Annona species in its family tree.

This is apparently how it happens.

But you don't need to become an Annona collector overnight.  Taste one. Figure out whether you prefer soft or chewy, intensely sweet or slightly tart, classic or weird.  Then try another.  Before long, you may find yourself standing in your yard trying to decide where exactly you're going to fit one more tree.

Ready to find your favorite?

Explore the Incredible Edible Landscapes Annona Collection to compare Sugar Apples, Atemoyas, Cherilata, Custard Apple, Soursop, Rollinia, Ilama, Temoylata and more.

Start with the fruit that sounds most like you.

I'll be over here eating the sugary edge off a Cherilata.