Plant · P-504

Atemoya

Annona x atemoya

Atemoya is a cross between cherimoya and sugar apple grown for a large, pale, heart-shaped fruit whose custard-textured white pulp is scooped out with a spoon and tastes like a blend of its two parents. Its own pollen sheds after the flower's stigma has already stopped accepting it, so natural fruit set is nearly zero and growers hand-pollinate each flower to get a real crop. It tolerates more cold than either parent, but young trees still die around 28 F and mature wood only survives brief dips into the mid-20s, so it needs a container or cover anywhere winter gets that cold. As a sterile hybrid it rarely makes viable seed, so new trees come from grafting or budding rather than a seed packet.