I have tasted it and I am still growing it now. It is not a cherimoya. The flesh is red, creamy and pleasant tasting. My wife thought it had a slight raspberry flavor. I thought her thought was a bit imaginative. The fruit is difficult to catch at the right time. Seems its hard as a rock for ever and then, even though you check it everyday, you find it cracked open on the ground with bugs gorging on it. Mine is on Pond Apple (annona glabra) rootstock. The graft union is highly incompatible...but that is another whole story. Overall, for me, this ia an interesting, but marginal fruit when compared to cherimoya, atemoya, rollinia, or even sugar apple.

Harry

I saw a grafted one in back at Exotica too, never tasted it.

-Ethan

Harry, i wonder if the bugs spoil the fruit on the tree?

maybe bagging it would help?

Bryan:

No, the bugs cannot penetrate the hard shell of the fruit. It splits, then falls to the ground where the bugs get it. The split occurs suddenly and without warning. I swear you could watch it all day long, then look away for an hour and the darned thing is split and on the ground.

Harry

Thanks for the information Harry. From what I have read, the fruit often splits and many people harvest it right before or just after it splits and ripen it at room temperature. I wonder if Diversifolia can cross with a cherimoya? Can Selma perhaps be a cross?

I would think thay could possibly cross. But i have no proof of it. They have a simalar look. The exterior of Illama is much thicker than any cherimpya that I have seen. The flowers look very similar though.

Harry

i bet they could cross. ive heard of guanabana x rollinia crosses,

cherimoya and sugar apple obviously cross, i have my suspicion the red in kampong mauve comes from reticulata custard apple.

also i heard from a reliable source they will come true from seed, and that Atemoya comes true from seed with some variability in seed ratio.

this is the main reason i planted my kampong mauve, 48-26 atemoya, rollinia, and soursop all in the same area of my yard spaced 6 foot apart in a circle. i hope to hand cross pollinate all of them and let their seedlings figure it out.

I'm a big ilama fan. The major drawback to the cultivars I've sampled in Florida is that the fruit starts to crack on the tree when it's ready to pick. If you can deal with that, it's a delicious treat. Harry, where did you get yours? I've been trying to find a grafted tree source in Florida for years.

Eldys:

Bought mine years ago from Zill's High performance plants....back when Har Mahdeem worked there and presided over their annona breeding program. Was able to purchase there as member of Al Will's Sub Tropical Fruit Culture Class. All were grafted on Pond Apple. I originally had Pajapita and another whose name I can't recall....maybe Guillermo I think it was.....and of course the Genova Red that I still grow. The others died over the course of years. And the Genova Red was nearly destroyed in Hurricane Wilma. A large section of the grafted portion broke off of the generally incompatible pond apple stump that has become the rootstock.

Harry

Hello eldys, Roger Meyers has the Genova Red for sale. Not sure if he will ship to where you are but worth a try if you are looking for this cultivar.

Roger & Shirley Meyer 6
16531 Mt. Shelly Circle, Fountain Valley, CA 92708
VOICE: 714-839-0796
E-MAIL: xotcfruit@yahoo.com

Even though this is an old post... can anyone tell me where I can buy a Genova red cherimoya? Roger no longer around :( thank you!