A History of Agriculture in India v2.c72.s18: Sharifa
A History of Agriculture in India v2.c72.s18
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Sharifa
v2.c72.s18.1
Annona squamosa (*sharifa*) or custard-apple, as it is called, was introduced by the Portuguese into India in the sixteenth century. It grows wild in the Deccan Plateau, but that does not mean that it is an indigenous Indian plant. Possibly it is an escape from a garden. By the early seventeenth century it had spread into the north, and Mundy, who reached Agra in A.D. 1632, saw its fruit bring sold in the bazar.
v2.c72.s18.2
Another cousin of the custard-apple is the bullock's-heart (*Annona cherimola*), a delicious fruit which grows in Karnataka and Bengal.