牛心番荔枝 niu xin fan li zhi

Trees to 6 m tall, evergreen. Branchlets grayish sericeous, glabrescent. Axillary leaf buds ovoid, apex obtuse. Petiole 1-1.5 cm; leaf blade oblong-lanceolate, 9-30 × 2-7 cm, papery, pubescent when young but glabrescent, secondary veins 9-18 on each side of midvein, forming an angle of 30°-60° with midvein, and flat, base cuneate to obtuse and slightly decurrent onto petiole, apex acuminate. Inflorescences leaf-opposed or internodal, cymose, several flowered. Flower buds lanceolate, apex obtuse. Sepals ovate, 2-3 mm, outside pubescent, inside glabrous. Petals yellowish green; outer petals oblong-lanceolate, fleshy, outside puberulent, inside glabrous; inner petals absent. Stamens oblong, 1-1.3 mm; connectives apically subtruncate. Carpels oblong, villous; stigmas muriculate. Syncarp turning yellow to reddish, spherical to ovoid, 5-12.5 cm in diam.; areoles ± flat, separated by a reticulation of often raised ridges; pulp yellowish. Seeds blackish brown. Fl. Nov-Feb, fr. Mar-Jun. 2n = 14.

Widely cultivated; 100-200 m. Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Taiwan, Yunnan [native to tropical America].

The fruit, bullock’s-heart or custard-apple, are edible, containing nearly 17% sugar, 1.6% protein, and 0.26% fat.