Trees, shrubs or shrublets, with simple or stellate hairs or glabrous
Leaves usually large, petiolate, often ± elliptic
Inflorescences fascicled, or occasionally cymosely racemose, terminal, leaf-opposed, supra-axillary or cauliflorous, or flowers solitary
Flowers usually bisexual, pedicellate, bracteolate; bracteoles 0-2, persistent
Sepals 3, valvate, free, much shorter than petals
Petals 6, valvate, or imbricate, in 1 or 2 whorls, subequal or inner whorl rudimentary or absent, free or connate at base
Stamens many; filaments linear or linear-valvate; anther thecae extrorse and often unequal at base; connective usually terminating in a swollen head or hood-like process above anther thecae
Carpels many, free at first or united from beginning, ± cylindrical, often hairy; ovule solitary, basal, erect; style clavate; stigma muricate
Fruit syncarpous, formed by united monocarps, indehiscent, fleshy, usually ovoid, spherical or cordiform, many-seeded
Seeds irregularly arranged in syncarp; with endosperm of firm, waxy plates, interspersed with membranous outgrowths from endocarp; aril carunculoid
x = 7 (aneuploids, polyploidy)
Nomenclature:
Annona L.
Linnaeus: 536 (1753)
Linnaeus: 241 (1754)
Endlicher: 834 (1839)
Harvey: 583 (1862)
Bentham: 476 (1862)
Oliver: 14 (1868)
Prantl: 37 (1891)
Engler & Diels: 76 (1901)
Fries: 129 (1931)
Fries: 1 (1959), accepted 17 sections
Robson: 141 (1960)
Paiva: 107 (1966)
Roessler & Schreiber: 1 (1968)
Verdcourt: 112 (1971)
Van Setten & Maas: 678 (1990)
Kessler: 126 (1993)
Distribution & Notes:
Global: Species ± 110, mostly in tropical America, 4 in tropical Africa
Southern Africa: Species 2, Namibia, Botswana, Northern Province, Mpumalanga, Swaziland and KwaZulu-Natal. Few species cultivated as fruit trees throughout the tropics
References:
BENTHAM, G. 1862. On African Anonaceae. The Transactions of the Linnean Society of London 23
ENDLICHER, S.L. 1839. Anonaceae. Genera plantarum secundum ordines naturales disposita 2. Beck, Vienna
ENGLER, A. & DIELS, L. 1901. Annonaceae. In A. Engler, Monographien afrikanischer Pflanzenfamilien und Gattungen 6. Engelmann, Leipzig
FRIES, R.E. 1931. Revision der Arten einiger Anonaceen-Gattungen II. Acta horti bergiani 10,2
FRIES, R.E. 1959. Annonaceae. Die natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien 2,17a
HARVEY, W.H. 1862. Anona. Addenda and corrigenda to the first volume. Flora capensis 2
KESSLER, P.J. A.1993. Annonaceae. In K. Kubitzki, J.G. Rohwer & V. Bittrich, The families and genera of vascular plants - dicotyledons 2. Springer-Verlag, Berlin
LINNAEUS, C. 1753. Species plantarum. Laurentius Salvius, Stockholm
LINNAEUS, C. 1754. Genera plantarum: 241, edn 5. Laurentius Salvius, Stockholm
OLIVER, D. 1868. Anonaceae. Flora of tropical Africa 1
PAIVA, J.A.R. 1966. Revisão das Annonaceae de Angola. Memórias da Sociedade Broteriana 19
PRANTL, K. 1891. Anonaceae. Die natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien III,2
ROESSLER, H. & SCHREIBER, A. 1968. Annonaceae. Prodromus einer Flora von Südwestafrika 34
VAN SETTEN, A.K. & MAAS, P.J.M. 1990. Studies in Annonaceae XIV. Index to generic names of Annonaceae. Taxon 39
VERDCOURT, B. 1971. Flora of tropical East Africa. Annonaceae
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