English: Custard apple family; Soursop family.
Region: Neotropical, 900 species; Afrotropical, 450 species; Indomalayan, 1050 species.
Habitat: tropical.
Use: bark for ropes.
BotanyTrees, shrubs, some lianas; deciduous or evergreen; short branch clade.
Stem: wood like spiderweb; bark strong, ropy, aromatic.
Leaves: spiral; aromatic; simple, entire margin; stipules absent.
Inflorescence: axillary, internodal, cauliflorous.
Flowers: aromatic; petals imbricate; aperturate pollen.
Sepals: small.
Stamen: short filaments.
Carpels: free.
Seed: endosperm ruminate!
TaxonomyMalmeoideae is one of the 2 main Subfamilies of
Annonaceae. The other is
Annonoideae.
Members: 108 genera; ± 2400 species.
DifferentiationFlower: size, arrangement, number of sepals, petals, and stamens vary significantly between tribes. Some tribes have showy, large flowers (
Monodoreae), while others have small, inconspicuous flowers (
Malmeeae).
Fruit: types:
Malmeeae and
Miliuseae produce fleshy, berry-like fruits;
Duguetieae have small, often clustered fruits.
Inflorescence: solitary, clustered, or pendent, with variations across tribes.
Carpels: number and arrangement: free carpels in
Malmeeae.
Region:
Monodoreae mainly in Africa;
Miliuseae in Asia and Australia.