The Fruits are small, rough, cone-like balls of irregularly serrated-edged seeds, packed horizontally. They are green in the seed and brown in the wing portion. They ripen about December and are about ¾ inch.
Uses.—The wood is burnt entire and the fine, white ash used for fixing dyes. The ash is also used for washing white garments. The roots are used as “Chew-sticks” for cleansing the mouth and teeth. The saplings and branches produce forked poles (gofa) for building. The bark yields a dark, inferior gum. The seeds are a cure for worms in horses. The leaves, mixed with salt, make a yellow dye.
ANONA SENEGALENSIS Pers.—Gwandar daji. “Custard Apple.” ANONACEAE.
A very common shrub, averaging some 10-12 feet in height, sometimes a small tree, in suitable situations exceeding 20 feet; very widely distributed and found everywhere except in the extreme north. The distinguishing features are the oval, bluish leaves, the waxy, yellow flowers and the familiar orange-coloured fruits. It has no particular form.
The Bark is normally light, silvery grey, smooth, with marked horizontal cuts round the stem, having the appearance of joints. Older or exposed stems, especially those subject to fire, become darker and roughly scaly. The slash is a dull, pale pink.
The Wood is greenish-grey. The transverse section shows indistinct rings, minute single pores scattered in between the fine waved rays which reach from the centre to the edge of the wood and show as small dark bands in radial section. In vertical section the grain shows as slight variations in colour. It is soft and easy to saw and plane. Weight 40 lbs. a cubic foot.
The Leaves are oval, some 6 inches long and 3 inches broad, bluish-green, with a short stalk, the lateral nerves inclined well forward and the small connecting veins parallel, numerous and at right angles to the mid-rib. The leaves stand erect and are apt to fold up along the mid-rib. When crushed they are fragrant.
The Flowers appear from January to April, single or in pairs, ¾ inch long, pale yellow and waxy. Each has three small green sepals and six petals in two rows, the outer three large, with broad flat edges which meet tight together in bud, the inner three smaller, thick and pale yellow, their tips meeting over a mass of stamens round the ovary and stigmas. The flowers do not open wide and last for a long time.