Annonaceae

Alternate, aromatic simple leaves arranged in two ranks along the twig; thick, fleshy petals sit in two whorls of three around a spiral of numerous separate carpels that fuse together into one knobby aggregate fruit.

One of the most ancient surviving flowering-plant lineages, retaining primitive floral traits — spiralled, unfused floral parts — that most other families have since reduced or fused away.

To check whether a plant belongs to Annonaceae, compare the leaf arrangement, leaf type, flower symmetry, fruit type, and one distinctive marker together. A single feature can mislead; the family pattern is the combination.