Annona paludosa is a species of plant in the family Annonaceae. It is native to Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname and Venezuela.[1] Jean Baptiste Christophore Fusée Aublet, the French pharmacist and botanist who first formally described the species, named it after its swampy (Latin: paludosus in Latin) habitat.[2]
It is a bush reaching 1.2-1.5 meters in height. Its branches have numerous light brown lenticels. Its oblong, membranous leaves are 16-20 by 6-7.5 centimeters and come to a point at their tip. The mature leaves are hairless on their green upper surface, but have woolly rust colored hairs on their reddish lower surfaces. The leaves have 18-20 secondary veins emanating from each side of their midribs. Its petioles are 5 by 3 millimeters, densely covered in woolly hairs, and have a groove on their upper surface. Its flowers are on 10-15 millimeter long peduncles that occur alone or in pairs. The peduncles are covered in woolly hairs and have a bracteole at their base and midpoint. Its sepals are united to form a calyx with 3 triangular lobes that are 10 by 10 millimeters and come to a tapering point. The outer surfaces of the sepals are covered in rust-colored woolly hairs. Its flowers have 6 petals arranged in two rows of 3. The thick, oval, outer petals have margins that touch but are not united. The outer petals are 15-18 by 15 millimeters, have a central ridge, and are covered in fine gray woolly hairs. The thinner inner petals are 14-15 by 6 millimeters and alternate with the outer petals. The inner petals are concave and covered on both surfaces with fine gray woolly hairs. Its flowers have numerous stamens that are 2.8-3 millimeters long. The velvety tissue connecting the lobes of anthers forms a cap on top of the stamens. Its flowers have numerous carpels. Its mature, oval, yellow fruit are 6 by 4 centimeters and covered in fleshy, pointed projections. Its broad, smooth, oval seeds are 8 by 4 millimeters with a prominent caruncle at their base.[3] [4]
The pollen of Annona paludosa is shed as permanent tetrads.[5]
It grows in marshy meadows.[6]
It was reported by the American agronomist and botanist Edward Lewis Sturtevant in 1919 to have edible, juicy, yellow fruit.[6]