only moderately drought-tolerant, requiring at least of annual rainfall, and will not produce fruit well during droughts. It will grow from sea level to an altitude of and does well in hot dry climates, differing in its tolerance of lowland tropics from many of the other fruit bearers in the Annona family. It is quite a prolific bearer, and it will produce fruit in as little as two to three years. A five-year-old tree can produce as many as 50 sugar apples. Poor fruit production has been reported in Florida because there are few natural pollinators (honeybees have a difficult time penetrating the tightly closed female flowers); however, hand pollination with a natural fiber brush is effective in increasing yield. Natural pollinators include beetles (coleoptera) of the families Nitidulidae, Staphylinidae, Chrysomelidae, Curculionidae and Scarabaeidae. Ecology In the Philippines, the fruit is commonly eaten by the Philippine fruit bat (kabag or kabog), which then spreads the seeds from island to island. It is a host plant for larvae of the butterfly Graphium agamemnon (tailed jay). Uses In traditional Indian, Thai, and Native American medicines, the leaves are boiled down with water, possibly mixed with other specific botanicals, and used in a decoction to treat dysentery and urinary tract infection. In traditional Indian medicine, the leaves are also crushed for use as a poultice, and applied to wounds. In Mexico, the leaves are rubbed on floors and put in hens' nests, to repel lice. In Haiti, the fruit is known as cachiman and is used to simply make juice. In Lebanon and Syria, it is made into a variety of desserts and sweets, referred to as ashta. References External links Annona squamosa L. Medicinal Plant Images Database (School of Chinese Medicine, Hong Kong Baptist University) squamosa Trees of the Caribbean Flora of Brazil Flora of the Cerrado Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Flora of South America Trees of Guatemala Flora without expected TNC conservation status