What is this fruit, anyone knows?

Question

What fruit is this?

Please see photos, thanks. This is from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA. It is about 3 inches in diameter.

Can you add info that might help, like location, is it soft/hard, smell... Someone may recognize without it but that would help narrow things. Thanks for having leaves because they eliminate my first thought, wrong leaves for what I thought the fruit looked like. — dlb, Jul 03 '18 at 19:05
It's 3" in diameter. I'll try to add a photo of it cut in half. — user67989, Jul 04 '18 at 20:13

arieljannai · Answer 1 · 2018-07-05T12:32:48.447

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Update: Now that the OP added a photo of the inside, I think Cos Callis was right, and it's Guava, it definitely doesn't look like an apple from the inside.

It looks very much like a Pond Apple:

The form of the leaves and the stalk/stem(?) looks also very similar.

edited Jul 05 '18 at 12:32

answered Jul 03 '18 at 22:14

arieljannai

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I think the leaves aren't the right shape. – talon8 Jul 04 '18 at 00:45
Hmm, that might be right - very similar to the walnut but now I’m wondering if it is or not given the similarities to the pond apple . – Joe M Jul 04 '18 at 03:20
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@talon8 To me, the leaves look like the correct shape... **+1** – Fabby Jul 04 '18 at 12:36
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Those leaves look just right to me too, including the little upward pointing "curvy-crooks" to their stems. The shape of the fruit is also not exactly like most walnuts. A teensy bit too top-heavy on the roundness - but exactly like those pond apples. – Lorel C. Jul 04 '18 at 16:58
It is 3" in diameter. – user67989 Jul 04 '18 at 20:08
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@Fabby, If you look at the leaf in the bottom right of the bottom picture, it's fatter (more shaped like a spade) than the one in the OP's picture. – talon8 Jul 06 '18 at 01:04
@LorelC. Guave answer upvoted, but not removing my upvote here as I thought this one was correct at first and the Guave is top answer now. – Fabby Jul 06 '18 at 07:39

score 6 · Answer 2 · edited Jun 16 '20 at 11:23

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That is a "Common Guava" (Wikipedia). When deployed to Saudi Arabia (years ago) we would get pallet loads of Guava Juice. My Puerto Rican friends were familiar with it already, it is supposed to be quite popular there (and throughout the Caribbean)

EDIT: after looking at @arieljannai answer I felt a little more research was in order, I was unfamiliar with the pond apple and they do look a LOT alike on the outside. The leaf structure is even similar. Britannica Has the following picture of a 'ripe' guava:

While this is the best picture of pond apple cut open:

Compared to the recently added photo of the original fruit provided by OP I am again confident that it is a guava (although, perhaps not a ripe one)

edited Jun 16 '20 at 11:23

Community

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answered Jul 03 '18 at 19:56

Cos Callis

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Are you sure? I think guavas are closer to limes in appearance, not a smooth outside and not with the speckles. – Joe M Jul 03 '18 at 21:10
Yes, with OP adding the picture of it cut open it's a certainty. – Cos Callis Jul 04 '18 at 22:04
Yep, it seems you were right :) I updated my answer to refer to yours – arieljannai Jul 05 '18 at 12:35
I had never even heard of a pond/alligator apple till I saw your answer, they do look an awful lot alike. Now that I'm back working at my PC I'm actually less sure. – Cos Callis Jul 05 '18 at 13:08
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Your picture of the pond apple cut open is cut vertically (through the "poles" of the fruit), while the picture supplied by Gidi shows the fruit cut horizontally (through the "equator"). I think this explains why a cut-open pond apple might look so different in the two photos. – Lorel C. Jul 05 '18 at 17:38
I took that into account and the inside shot of the pond apple was the best could find (quickly) and the core and seed arrangement would (I believe) not produce the effect we see in the lateral slice from OP. If you can source a better photo I would be happy to reconsider. – Cos Callis Jul 05 '18 at 18:53
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I’m not sure about the cross section, but the skin doesn’t look right at all for a guava to me - but I’m not sure I’ve seen an unripe one? – Joe M Jul 05 '18 at 23:38
I suspect that OP pic is not of a ripe guava. Look at the various pics on the links I provided and you can see that some have that lime like texture you expect, but others (younger I suspect) are more smooth in texture. – Cos Callis Jul 05 '18 at 23:40

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Dec 14 '22 at 17:08

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Annona glabra, related to Guanábana, commonly called Pond Apple in Florida.

yellow/orange when ripe, unlike most of the other species that have white pulp and are much tastier.

answered Dec 14 '22 at 17:08

user102112

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score 0 · Answer 4 · answered Jul 05 '18 at 14:04

The fruit itself looks like a caimito: a sweet tropical fruit. However, the leaves in the picture are throwing me off a little because caimito leaves should look very much like magnolia leaves - the kind that are made into Christmas garlands. The leaves in the picture are the right shape, but I am missing the waxy dark green of the dorsal side and matted gold color on the plantar side feature.

What is this fruit, anyone knows?

4 Answers4