Annona muricata L.
മുള്ളാത്തി
| Family: | ANNONACEAE |
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| Sub-Family: | Not available | ||||
| English Name: | Sour Sop | ||||
| Synonym: | Annona macrocarpa Werckl | ||||
| Common Name: | Cancer chakka | ||||
| Flowering & Fruiting Period: | April - October | ||||
| Distribution: | Native of Central America and West Indies, introduced elsewhere | ||||
| Habitat: | Cultivated | ||||
| Uses: | Fruits edible, anti-cancerous. Extraction from leaves is lethal to head lice and bedbugs. When grinded, the seeds are effective pesticides against head lice. The juice of the fruit is said to be able to increase the amount of urine, and treat urethritis and haematuria. Immature fruits are grinded and decocted as a treat for dysentery. | ||||
| Key Characteristics: | Trees, to 10 m high, bark pale brown; young twigs glabrescent. Leaves simple, alternate; lamina elliptic, oblong, margin entire. Flowers yellowish-green. Sepals 3, triangular, persistent. Petals 6(3+3) ovate-acute, yellow; stamens many, filaments broad at base, with capitate top of the connective; ovary superior. Fruit ovoid to obovoid, green, covered with curved spines; seeds many, reddish-brown. | ||||