pond apple Annona glabra, a tree which grows wild in the American tropics, especially the W. Indies and S. Florida, and also in parts of W. Africa, bears yellow fruits which smell like oranges but have little flavour. These are edible when fully ripe and can be made into jelly, but Morton (1987) considers them merely a ‘survival food’. The names ‘custard apple’ and ‘alligator apple’ are sometimes used in the USA and the W. Indies respectively.
© the Estate of Alan Davidson 1999, 2006, 2014 © in the Editor’s contribution to the second and third editions, Oxford University Press 2006, 2014.