Sharifa / Custard Apple
Annona squamosa
Also known as Sugar Apple, Sweet Sop, Sweetsop-Anon, Araticum
- Habit
- Tree
- Found in India
- Telangana, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu & more
- Flowering
- March-December
How to identify Sharifa
Identify Sharifa by combining habit, leaf characters, flower or fruit details, location, and its family pattern. Do not rely on one feature alone.
- Look for a tree habit.
- Check the distinctive field mark: Classic cultivated custard apple with knobby segments.
- Use the leaf pattern: alternate leaf arrangement, simple leaves, entire leaf margins, pinnate venation.
- In season, compare flowering and fruiting time: March-December.
- In India, compare location records such as Telangana, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and nearby regions.
- Confirm it sits within the Annonaceae family pattern, then compare close relatives before deciding it is Sharifa.
Plant Details
- Scientific name
- Annona squamosa
- Genus
- Annona
- Family
- Annonaceae
- Habit
- Tree
- Habitat
- Dry deciduous and scrub forests
- Native to
- Central America, West Indies
- Distribution
- India, Central America
- Found in India
- Telangana, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Puducherry, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Daman & Diu, Haryana
- Flowering & fruiting
- March-December
- Conservation status
- Not Evaluated (NE)
Leaf characters
- Arrangement
- Alternate
Characters marked “recorded” are for Sharifa itself; the rest are typical of the Annonaceae family.
Flower & fruit characters
- Flower symmetry
- Actinomorphic (radially symmetrical)
- Inflorescence
- Solitary
- Fruit
- Berry
Typical of the Annonaceae family — flowering plants only; individual species can differ.
Local Names
- Hindi
- Sharifa शरीफ़ा, Sitaphal सीताफल,शरीफा sharipha,सीताफल sitaphal
- Nepali
- सरीफा
- Bengali
- আতা, শরিফা
- Tamil
- சீதாபழம் Sitapalam, சீதாப் பழம், சீதாப்பழம்
- Telugu
- చక్కెర సీతాఫలం, మంచి సీతాఫలం
- Kannada
- ಸೀತಾಫಲ Sita Phala, ಸೀತಾಫಲ
- Malayalam
- സീതപ്പഴം
- Marathi
- सीताफळ
Sharifa in India
The custard apple is a small backyard fruit tree loved for its sweet, creamy flesh — Sharifa शरीफ़ा (Hindi), சீதாபழம் Sitapalam (Tamil), చక్కెర సీతాఫలం (Telugu), ಸೀತಾಫಲ Sita Phala (Kannada), സീതപ്പഴം (Malayalam), सीताफळ (Marathi). Annona squamosa is grown and naturalised across Telangana, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, often on dry, rocky ground.
Uses
The knobbly fruit is eaten fresh, scooped from its segments, and blended into shakes and ice cream. The leaves and seeds have attributed traditional uses, but the seeds are toxic and used as a folk insecticide — so the seeds should never be eaten.
How to Identify Sharifa
A small, often straggling tree with dull green oblong leaves. The fruit is unmistakable: a rounded, pale green, lumpy 'scaly' surface of fused segments that soften when ripe, each segment covering a hard black seed within sweet white pulp.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is Custard Apple called in different Indian languages?
- Sharifa शरीफ़ा (Hindi); சீதாபழம் Sitapalam (Tamil); చక్కెర సీతాఫలం (Telugu); ಸೀತಾಫಲ Sita Phala (Kannada); സീതപ്പഴം (Malayalam); सीताफळ (Marathi); আতা (Bengali).
- How do you know when a custard apple is ripe?
- It softens and the segments begin to separate slightly; ripe sitaphal yields to gentle pressure and the creamy white pulp scoops out easily.
- Are custard apple seeds poisonous?
- Yes — the hard black seeds are toxic and traditionally used as an insecticide, so eat only the pulp and discard the seeds.
Annonaceae
Custard apple family
Sharifa belongs to the Annonaceae family.
The illustration represents the family — not necessarily this exact species.
Explore the Annonaceae familySnap it. Know it.
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Common plant problems
If you are starting from symptoms instead of a diagnosis, use the plant disease symptom checker to narrow the cause before treating.
All plant problem & care guidesMore in Annonaceae
View all AnnonaceaeSources: GBIF — Annona squamosa (India distribution & vernacular names) (CC BY 4.0) · iNaturalist — Annona squamosa (regional names, India observations) (CC BY 4.0) · Wikipedia — Annona squamosa (background/comprehension only) (CC BY-SA 4.0)