Kauaʻi record · kba_plant_annona_reticulata

Bullock’s heart

Annona reticulata

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About Bullock’s heart

Bullock’s heart (Annona reticulata) is a post-contact introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi through cultivation records. In its native seasonal forests, leaf and shoot development can track the transition from dry to rainy periods while flowering and fruiting can occur in drier months. The partly closed, fleshy flowers form a chamber used by beetle visitors, and the many-seeded fruit packages numerous carpels into one edible syncarp. Although the species is pantropically cultivated and has a high Hawaiʻi weed-risk score, Bishop Museum classifies it as only cultivated on Kauaʻi, so the card does not claim escape or establishment.

Kauaʻi evidence

Taxonomic identity, tree form, diagnostic morphology and island occurrence use the linked reviewed sources. Historical planting, cultivation, naturalization and invasive status are separate. Generated imagery is not occurrence evidence.

Names and classification

Scientific name: Annona reticulata
Common names: custard apple · netted custard apple · Jamaican apple · Bullock’s heart
Other names: Annona reticulata · Bullock’s heart · custard apple · netted custard apple · Jamaican apple · Annona humboldtiana Kunth · Annona humboldtii Dunal · Annona excelsa Kunth
Record type: Species

Kauaʻi occurrence and status

Kauaʻi occurrence: Recorded on Kauaʻi
Origin: Introduced
Conservation status: Not yet assessed
Evidence date: 2026-10-05
Evidence limits: Current extent is unassessed; public locality is island level only.

Habitat and ecology

Habitats: Not yet assessed
Food and resource needs: Not yet assessed
Reproduction: Bisexual flowers are borne in drooping clusters on short twigs that may be shed after flowering and fruiting. Beetles are reported as important natural pollinators in the reviewed Agroforestree biology account, and each successfully fertilized carpel contributes a segment and seed to the compound fruit. Plants are generally raised from seed, though inarching, budding and grafting are also used; no wild recruitment is documented for Kauaʻi.
Shelter: Not yet assessed
Growth form: Small deciduous to semi-evergreen tropical fruit tree

Threats and conservation

Monitoring: Not yet assessed
Data gaps: Current population extent and trajectory · Additional species-specific ecological and conservation sources

Process and seasonal context

Seasonal timing: Not yet assessed
Seasonal description: Bullock’s heart (Annona reticulata) is a post-contact introduced tree documented on Kauaʻi through cultivation records. In its native seasonal forests, leaf and shoot development can track the transition from dry to rainy periods while flowering and fruiting can occur in drier months. The partly closed, fleshy flowers form a chamber used by beetle visitors, and the many-seeded fruit packages numerous carpels into one edible syncarp. Although the species is pantropically cultivated and has a high Hawaiʻi weed-risk score, Bishop Museum classifies it as only cultivated on Kauaʻi, so the card does not claim escape or establishment.

Sources and further reading

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