Pond apple

Annona glabra

A custard apple for wet ground; mild fruit, and the hardiest rootstock for cherimoya.

Type: small tree · native and wild plants
Hardiness: zones 10 to 12
Light: full sun to part shade
Size: about 30 ft tall, 20 ft wide
Harvest: July to September
From: S. Florida and the Caribbean
Here: Too tender to overwinter outdoors on the Lake Erie shore (zone 6b to 7a): grow it in a pot and bring it in, or treat it as an annual.

Good for: food, wildlife.

Native to: Southeast, Mexico, Central America & the Caribbean, Tropical South America. Hardy in zones 10 to 12.

The story

Pond apple grows in the Everglades and Caribbean swamps, where the Calusa and Seminole ate the mild fruit and used the light wood for floats; it is the custard apple that stands in water, and the hardiest rootstock for cherimoya and soursop.

Planting

Full sun or part shade, wet to flooded soil, heat; no hard frost. Plant seed or a seedling at a pond edge; a 30-foot tree.

Growing

Keep wet; it tolerates flooding and brackish water. Prune to shape.

Harvest and use

Fruit ripens yellow in summer and autumn; mild, mango-scented, eaten fresh or juiced. Not every tree is good; taste before planting from seed.

What to watch for

Frost; otherwise none.

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More native and wild plants

General guidance, not professional advice. Conditions vary by yard and year; for local specifics ask your county extension office. Never eat a wild plant you cannot identify with certainty. Traditional uses are shared as history, not medical advice. © 2026 Sean Priest · Irie Orchard. Terms & credits · Privacy · Home